


Live a Little

by ShatteredRhapsody



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is a Troll, Reverse Harem, Slice of Life, Unbeta'd, Unresolved Sexual Tension, copious amounts of copulating, friends with benefits galore!, shameless oggling, written for funsies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-21 01:41:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 32,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShatteredRhapsody/pseuds/ShatteredRhapsody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A woman from our world gets sucked into the Naruto world. Her presence alone warps the Naruto 'verse into something new. She doesn't want to follow the path of the Mary Sue and become an all-powerful ninja--although that's been thrown out the window--but instead she rather oggle the many hot male characters and at least try to pursue a relationship or two.</p><p>I write this for my own enjoyment as it's a great outlet for my building stress levels. Hell, I don't even really have a plot for this one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I original started this story on ff.net some years ago. It's due for a revamp.

I woke up feeling like I got trampled by a herd of elephants, and considering the amount of pain I was in, I'd believe it. Except for the not being dead part; although I still wasn't sure if I really was dead or not because I could see and feel the bruises up and down my body. When I went to bed last night, I was wearing my jammies: just some plain old shorts and a tank top. I began to regret my choice of sleeping clothes since as far as I could see, I was in an alley of some kind and it was colder than a woman's nipples in Antarctica. 

It hurt like a bitch to sit up and lean against the filthy wall, but I didn't want to stay here. Who knew what other kind of weirdos were around that could rape and/or kill me while I was this defenseless? I didn't feel like risking it. It took me a few minutes to fully stand, and even that made me want to throw up from the pain. Why didn't whoever dropped me here just kill me and save me the pain of movement? 

I took a few steps and bit my lip from crying out. Son of a bitch. Broken glass stings like a mofo. Right when I stepped out into the open street, I bumped solidly into what looked like a giant white dog. I had never seen dogs that big outside of Great Danes and similar breeds before.

"Oof!" I flailed backwards from the contact and tried to regain my balance. A warm pair of arms caught me before I could hit the cold hard ground. Looking up, I nearly swallowed my tongue while I felt my eyes go wide. Holy Christ on a cracker. Either this was a really good Kiba cosplay or I was in for a world of trouble. I've read my fair amount of fanfiction to know what this fearful yet massively excited feeling could be: I was in the Naruto world. Or maybe I was jumping to conclusions.

"Miss, are you alright? Akamaru and I didn't see you and oh Kami! Are you alright?!" I think he saw my bruises, or he noticed when I fainted from the pure shock of what my situation really meant. 

When I came to, I was on top of something warm, fluffy and oh-so-comfy. And it was moving. Please don't tell me that I was riding the dog; there's only so much shock the human body could take and I was close to my limit. 

"...almost at the hospital. Emergency should still be open, I just need your name so they can ID you." 

Oh, the dog boy was speaking to me. I was just so comfy on his warm doggy that I didn't really register what he was saying. It vaguely clicked so I replied with a "M'nami?" I meant to say "my name?" but I was starting to get really sleepy. Probably not a good sign.

"Minami? That's a start--hey, don't fall asleep on me. We don't know how bad the damage is; stay with me." I felt what had to be his hand lightly tap my cheek in an attempt to wake me up. 

"M'tired," I mumbled up at him while I felt my lungs struggle to take in air. Really not a good sign! My eyes were starting to hurt trying to keep them open. I could see blurry images of houses and shops. Why he didn't just body flicker my ass to the hospital, I don't know, but it would have gotten me there faster right? Oh, but then again, the thought of moving any faster than this was making me feel even more nauseous. Ugh, no.

"What do you got there, Kiba-kun?"

"Ah. Kakashi-sensei, I found her stumbling out of an alley way. She's pretty beat up and I'm taking her to the hospital."

Oh holy god balls. The Kakashi was here and I couldn't even open my eyes long enough to gaze upon his gorgeous face. Mostly because all I could see was white dog fur that was comfier than the the shag rug I had on my bathroom floor. 

"You just got back from a mission right? Why don't you head on to the Hokage Tower to send in report and let Tsunade-sama know she'll be needed at the hospital. I'll take her there since it looks like she won't be conscious for much longer."

"Okay. Be careful lifting her, I don't know the extent of her injuries but she's been having trouble breathing for a while."

"Understood."

I felt another pair of warm, muscular, yummy arms lifting me and I almost screamed at being moved onto someone's back. I could feel gloved hands curl under my thighs to keep me suspended up and I tried to curl my arms around a cloth covered neck. it wasn't fair, I couldn't even see Kakashi, but I could feel him. I guess that was better than nothing.

"Her name is Minami. It's all I could get from her; she's having trouble speaking."

I was starting to get tired of being talked about. Actually, I was just tired of not being in a hospital yet and on the good drugs.

"M'injured you twit. G'me to the 'spital and I'll speak all y'want." I mumbled while shamelessly nuzzling against Kakashi's cheek. Oh goodness. He smelled like yummy male.

"You heard the lady, Kiba-kun. I'll have send for you when I know more about the situation."

And we were moving again. This time, I tried my hardest not to throw up because I did not want to--

Oh look, we're in the sky. And oh shit. I just threw up on Kakashi. This was so not how I fantasized about being in the Naruto world.


	2. Chapter 2

I was floating.

At least I felt like I was floating; the mattress my body was laying on felt softer than a fluffy cloud and despite the sharp pricking in my arm, I felt absolutely wonderful! This felt similar to the time I got my wisdom teeth removed and the double whammy of the cocktail of pain meds I was on had me flying higher than a kite. They must give out the good drugs here.

_“…she’s not exactly lucid at the moment and she may not realize she’s even aware that she’s talking.”_

Although good drugs tended to mean a lot of pain and since I felt like I got hit by a train, I had to wonder if I was going to be able to walk again. Oh God, was I paralyzed?!

_“You’re not paralyzed. Luckily most of the damage was just severe bruising. You should be healed within the next week.”_

Oh goody. Great. Yay!

_“Hokage-sama, Shikaku-san and Inoichi-san are here to see you and the patient.”_

I had visitors? Oh, how unsightly. I probably looked like a human punching bag and I was uncontrollably babbling every thought it my head. Like why I couldn’t open my eyes.

_“You need rest. Your body knows this so any movement will feel monumental, Minami-san.”_

Who the hell was—Oh right, that was the name I gave the sexy man and the sexy guy with the super dog.

_“I can’t do much while she’s still half-conscious, Hokage-sama. As she is right now, she’ll most likely answer your questions honestly.”_

_“I just want to find out how she got here, who she is, and what’s her aim!”_

I think I was abducted from my room and I kind of doubted any of my family would notice. I liked to keep to myself a lot and only called on family if they left me a message. Because like Grandma said: “They’ll leave a message if it’s really important.” But I wasn’t really anyone…but I wasn’t a nobody. I was eighteen years old, blood type A positive, slightly nearsighted and my aim was so terrible I couldn’t even hit the broad sign of a barn with a rock.

_“Definitely a civilian by her responses; we’ll see how she heals in the next few days. She’s young so she should heal just fine.”_

….

It took a few days until I was alert enough to be fully aware of anything and by then, I could feel _everything_. And I knew that only happened when they would start weaning me off the good stuff. Or maybe they forgot to give me my dosage.

But on the bright side I could open my eyes and I blinked wearily at the muted light streaming through the window. Breathing deeply, I forced myself into an agonizing sitting position and fought back the urge to scream. Holy Hell, just the smallest movement felt like I was being stabbed by thousands of needles. But I wanted to get up and as I settled my back against the pillows I was previously lying on, I turned my head to the small table beside my bed. There were flowers in a vase and a stuffed animal of a little white dog. I couldn’t help but reach for it and hug it against my chest.

I had visitors and someone left me a gift. Wasn’t hard to figure out who, but it meant so much to me all the same. I’d read my share of fanfictions and I knew there was little to know chance I was never going home. I also knew I wasn’t independent enough to shrug it off that not seeing any of my family again wasn’t a big deal and that I soon wouldn’t be squeezing the stuffing out of the stuffed animal before bawling my eyes out. Oh, it seems I’d just reached that point. I cried and cried as I bent over myself. No more Mom who never listened and would interrupt me every sentence. No more stern Dad to have epic glaring/staring contests with over who got the last of ice cream. I cried until I had trouble dragging air in and out of my lungs and by then I felt so emotionally drained I half wanted to call for a nurse. Except this was a hospital in a world so different than my own that I didn’t even know if they even had call nurse buttons.

It wasn’t fair. Was this my punishment for reading so much smut the night before this happened? Had the Gods of Smut forsaken me? I sighed and let myself sink deep into my mind to meditate this whole situation out. Meditation was also a great way to fall into a light doze while staying somewhat aware of my surroundings. Breathing deeply, I listened to the sounds around me: the steady beep of the heart monitor, the light _drip-drip_ of the IV and the door to my room slowly creeping open—hold the phone, what? Maybe it was a nurse who finally remembered it was time to up my dosage of what I hope was a variation of morphine of some kind.

Don’t judge me. I heard morphine is some good stuff.

“Ah, Minami-san. How are you feeling? I’m an intern here at the hospital. My name is Keito and I’m just going to be looking over your charts here…”

I gave him a slight nod before I tuned him out. My heart was still grieving over the fact that my sister’s son would never know me. And that my sister and I would never be able to reconcile our differences and finally get along. Oh lord. Being in this world really made me feel extra sappy.

I felt the intern moving around me the bedding shifted just a little bit. He was probably doing whatever is that hospital interns do. I almost didn’t pay him any attention if it wasn’t for the feel of his hand cupping the back of my neck. My eyes snapped open and I watched him smile gently at me, a damp towel in his hand.

“You’ve been crying. Let me help clean your face a little,” he leaned in and pressed the small towel against my cheeks. My breathing was still slow and deep from my mediation and when the towel shifted closer to my nose, I got a whiff of something that was most definitely _not_ water and shifted away from it. I saw something behind his eyes darken and my gut twisted violently at the thought that crossed my mind: maybe he was some kind of pervert and he wanted to take advantage of me. Hell, I knew that shit always went from bad to worse in these kinds of storylines; Mary Sues always went through some kind of tragic bullshit.

It was when I felt his grip on my neck tighten that alarm bells started blaring in the back of my head. Well not today, buddy. I was tired, depressed, and cranky and in no mood for some sexy times with a guy who looked like Houjo from InuYasha.

Totes not my type.

It might have been my extreme paranoia that had me jerking out of his hold and slamming onto my side on the floor. Holy god balls that hurt. What’s-her-face said I’d still be healing so I probably just set myself back another week. Lovely.

I blinked wearily; kind of hard to see when it was dark with half my hair in my face. I yelped when I was yanked violently away from the hospital bed from my ankle.

_Oh, no he didn’t!_

I did not like being grabbed. Mostly because in my mind, if I didn’t like it, I’d fight ‘til I took down the bastard with me. So things got real violent real quick. My hands caught at the bar of my IV drip stand and right when I felt the perverted bastard’s hand travel up my leg, my other leg lashed out with a vicious kick. My shin! It burned! But I think I landed a solid blow to his nose.

“Bitch!”

Panting, I dragged myself to a sitting position, leaning heavily against the bed and the drip stand. I took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm my racing heart and I was trying to reserve energy. I didn’t know if this intern had anything more than civilian medical training; either way, I had a feeling this wouldn’t end well regardless of what I chose to do. And I knew I didn’t have enough strength to do what I really wanted to—I wanted to bash this guy’s head in with my IV stand but that required more movement than I was capable of so that plan wasn’t going to happen. So I did what any sensible girl would have done: I took a few deep breaths and when I felt my rate slow, I took the deepest breath I could.

And screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

Or at least loud enough to get someone running over here, but when the intern…god what was his name? Kei-something finished healing his nose, he rose above me—I was pretty sure I was going to die in the next minute—I dragged air back into my lungs and my fear poured out of my mouth.

_“No! Get the hell away from m—hurk!”_

Spots danced in front of my eyes as he tightened his hands around my throat. I scratched at his hands in a panic, then felt my way up to his face. I had never been more grateful for the fact that my nails were relatively long and proceeded to claw the fuck out of his face.

“You stupid bitch!” he hissed when it felt like I managed to scratch him near his eyes, “You’re not supposed to fight back!”

“News…flash…fuck…tard…I don’t…follow,” I gasped for air, “orders…very…well!”

Gritting my teeth, I used what was left of my energy to rock forward hard enough to slam my forehead into his.

Oh, God…white light. I’ve gone blind and/or died. Oh, wait a minute; blind people don’t see colors when they’re blind. So I was alive at least. Brownie points for me, yay! But oh man did my head hurt. I could now see why only professionals should do the headbutting. Before I completely passed out, I could hear what sounded like glass breaking, Kei-something shouting, and then I was lifted up bridal style by someone with some really nice arms.

So despite all the slightly-predictable drama, I was cuddled up to a possible hottie and that thought had me slipping into unconsciousness with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I've learned over the past year is that I get too frustrated writing a First Person POV and it's what makes me want to give up in the first place. So for those of you who have stuck around, this will continue in third person.

When Minami woke again, she was in a different room in the hospital and there were a bit more people than the last time she was awake. Also, she was pretty damn sure there was a hot blond holding her hand and-- _Holy shit it’s Naruto!_ She mentally screamed and decided to take her time to take in her surroundings. 

Tsunade was there and was writing something on a clipboard; probably about the latest incident involving their new uninvited guest.

“Ah, look who’s awake,” Tsunade commented dryly, “Young lady, you have been underestimated and I have to thank you because it’s time to push up our monthly evaluations if someone like that was on my staff.” 

Minami was still focused on her hand enveloped in Naruto’s much larger one, but blinked very slowly. “Um, you’re welcome?”

Tsunade chuckled and set the clipboard down. 

“You’ll be healed up in no time, but for now, we’re looking into finding a home for you. You’re too old to be set up in the orphanage--” Naruto’s grip on Minami’s hand tightened “--so we’re asking around if any of our jonin can take you in. 

“Oh. That’s good right?” Minami asked and raised her other hand to settle over Naruto’s and gained his attention. “I want to thank you for saving me. It was you, right?”

“Ah, well...I heard your scream when I was passing by. I couldn’t ignore that,” he said with a flushed face. Sometimes he honestly forgot how differently danger presented itself to civilians and it was a bit of an eye opener for him; especially when it used to be him in danger _from_ the civilians. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto, by the way.”

Minami blurted out the first name that came to mind, “U-Urameshi Minami. It’s nice to meet you.”

_You goddamn weeb, oh my God!_ She mentally screamed, but it would have to do for now. She couldn’t use her real name because she was already a stranger to them. Add in a really foreign name and she’d be under further scrutiny.

“It’s nice to meet you, Urameshi-san.” Naruto said with a grin and Minami felt her heart melt a little. God, he really was adorable and the anime didn’t do him any justice.

“Now that everyone has been acquainted,” Tsunade interrupted with a small smile, “visiting hours are well past over. Urameshi-san, we’ve moved you to a different ward of the hospital; I promise that you’ll be much safer here. Naruto-kun, I need you to come with me to my office while Urameshi-san gets some much needed rest.”

Naruto looked as if he was about to protest, but if she had to admit it out loud, Minami really _was_ exhausted. “Ano, Uzumaki-san,” she felt her heart warm at his concerned expression, “If Tsunade-san says I need to rest, then I’m sure I’ll be fine. Thank you again,” she ended with a tired smile.

“You’re welcome Urameshi-san. I told Kiba-kun where he could find you--he’s the one who brought you the stuffed animal by the way--because he wanted to know how you were doing. I’ll let him know when you’re feeling well enough to see more visitors, alright?”

Minami pushed back the sudden urge to cry and merely nodded to acknowledge his words. She was beyond tired and her emotions were still running high. Leaning back against the bed, she settled herself under the covers of the hospital blanket and let everything fade out.

 

…..

 

“...and then he got so embarrassed he lost control of his jutsu--”

A pillow flew dead center into Inoichi’s face while his old teammate attempted to suffocate him.

“You promised we’d never talk about that!” Chōza was now slamming the pillow over his friend’s face.

Minami was laughing so hard she was doubled over and crying against her knees. “Stop! Stop! I can’t--my sides can’t--Akimichi-san, we don’t have to keep talking about it.” 

The previous generation of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio had come to visit her for lunch and thought to cheer her up after her experience from the night before. They had helped her bounce around ideas on what she should do after she was all healed and she was adamant against becoming a shinobi as she knew she wouldn’t have the stomach for it, which is what got them on the topic of sharing stories from the trio’s genin years.

She could see through their efforts and it really did make her happy.

“I don’t think the lifestyle of a shinobi is meant for me,” she wiped a stray tear from her cheek, “but the three of you do make it sound like a lot of fun.”

“Do you have any work experience or anything you like to do, Urameshi-san?” Inoichi was going with a softer approach since she honestly seemed sincere in not wanting to join the shinobi forces; he’d made a mental note to pass that information along to the Hokage while they built her profile.

“I like working with children,” she said with a small smile. Her mom used to have an in-house daycare and she loved helping out with the little ones. “Ah, small children,” she clarified and her smile grew while her eyes lit up with happy memories.

The three men shared a short look and it was Shikaku that smirked and reached out to the girl. His hand ruffled her hair the same way he would do to his son. “My wife is very social so I’ll see if we can find something for you to occupy your time with when you’re all healed.”

“Ah...ano...thank you, Nara-san.” She was shoving aside the urge to cry because his simple gesture had her thinking of _her_ dad and she still wasn’t completely over her emotional meltdown from the previous day.

“Maa...call me Shikaku. I keep expecting to see my old man behind me when I get called by my last name.” He rested his hand on her head and felt reluctant to remove it. Her emotions flashed through her eyes like lightning and he could have sworn he saw a brief sheen of tears before she covered it up with a smile.

“Okay, Shikaku-san.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's really short. But it's been awhile since I last thought of updating this. And I have so many new ideas! I'm updating the tags also for this fic.


	4. Chapter 4

“Urameshi-san!” Naruto barreled into her hospital room holding a bag of oranges and stopped just short of running into her bed.

“Uzumaki-san, hello.” She smiled up at him.

She had been in the hospital for another week and was due to be released the next day. Apparently, the Hokage had decided that she would live with a shinobi for a few months before they found her a residence of her own. Minami knew that it was more likely a probationary period since it was likely they were still suspicious of her origins and wanted to keep an eye on her. There really wasn’t much she could do or say since this was their world and not her own, so she was satisfied with just making friends while she healed up.

Kiba had come for a visit just like Naruto had said he would, and had ended up spending almost the whole day with her just talking about his family and the dogs on the Inuzuka compound. She was most definitely a dog person and even expressed her wishes of someday owning one; that’s what sparked the initial discussion of the best dog to have. It was just a bonus that Kiba was really hot and that her entire mood improved just watching him talk.

“...I brought you some oranges because I thought you’d be tired of hospital food.” Naruto was saying as he sat next to her.

She blinked slowly and came back to herself.

“That’s really nice of you, Uzumaki-san.” She took one of the oranges and began to peel it. “Ano...you can call me Minami, if you’d like. We’re friends now, you know?” She felt all fluffy inside at his sudden blush and nervous grin.

“In that case, Minami-chan, you have to call me Naruto. Especially since you’ll be my roommate for the next couple of months.”

...a herd of wildebeest could have ran through the room and Minami wouldn’t have even heard them.

“What?!”

Naruto suddenly felt that maybe there was another way to have gone about bringing this particular topic up, but he had already said it so…

“Yeah, uh...Baa-chan said I overstressed my chakra during my last mission and that I need some time off to let it replenish itself. So I volunteered my place since I know my way around the village really well and I just thought that you--Oh. I’m sorry. I know I should have asked you first, but...I guess I’ll go and let you think it over.” 

He looked so dejected at her silence that she swallowed down the lump in her throat and shook her head.

“No, it’s alright. I hadn’t really heard of where she decided on letting me stay, but yeah, it’s still a big surprise. Thank you for...you know, being a friend and thinking of me.” She split the now unpeeled orange in half and held out a piece. “I’m warning you now though, I have some habits that you might not agree with.”

Relieved that she wasn’t angry with him, he took the slice from her hand and replied, “Minami-chan, I lived with a legendary sannin for three years outside of the village. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it all, so there’s not much left that can surprise me.”

She laughed at the seriousness of his tone and her eyes held a glint of mischievousness. “Famous last words, Naruto-kun.”

 

….

 

The Hokage and Council had given Naruto an additional stipend to pay for things Minami would need such as clothes, groceries, etc. The morning she was released from the hospital, Naruto took her shopping since the only clothes she had were donated by one of the nurses so she wouldn’t have to leave the building in just her pyjamas. 

Naruto had to admit that shopping when the villagers actually liked you was a nicer experience than when they didn’t. More of the store clerks actually smiled at him and a few even offered discounts! But none of this compared to how timid he felt when they went clothes shopping and Minami insisted on getting his opinion on the intimate wear. 

“Ne, Naruto-kun…” her voice carried from the back of the store, “should I get the matching set? How much is too much underwear, do you think?”

She had to have been doing this to him on purpose. His only solace was another man who stood by the door to the shop who had the same look of dread on his face. 

“So uh...how long does this usually take?” Naruto tried to start up some manner of conversation to get his mind off the growing pile of undergarments and other clothes that seemed to be forming in the basket in front of him. 

The other man winced and scratched the back of his head. “Mou...anywhere between five minutes to five hours, really. My wife tends to just get what she needs, but sometimes she’ll find something she really likes and--”

“Darling? We’re leaving. I need to buy groceries for this week!” Said the man’s wife who just blew right past them, her hand clutching her husband’s arm.

Naruto was hit with a wave of envy and suddenly hoped that the shopping trips they needed to do today wouldn’t take five hours. Hell, he’d rather be on a D-rank mission like the ones he had to do when he was younger than spend this much time shopping.  _ I guess I could look at it that way, _ he thought to himself as Minami finally emerged to pay for her purchases. Once everything was bagged up, she waved off his offer to carry her things for her.

“Thanks, but you don’t have to. I still need you to have your hands free in case we need something else.” He didn’t know it, but it was her way of apologizing for making him wait so long. She knew she was teasing him unnecessarily, but it just felt so good to not be stuck in bed in the same room for days and not have anything productive to do. It wouldn’t hurt to be a little nicer to him, right?

  
  


They got to his apartment later in the afternoon and it was a relief to both of them to finally be able to sit down. They both collapsed on the couch, too tired to put their purchases away just yet. It was a little awkward how they were sprawled around each other since neither were particularly very close to know each other’s personal boundaries. Naruto lay on his side against the back cushions, his head propped by his hand while Minami had face planted herself next to him. The move had her black hair flying into his face and he absently brushed it aside to watch her. 

Technically, her staying with him was an unofficial C/B Rank mission and he was fairly good at reading people in terms of what their intentions were. Right now though, it seemed she was intending on burrowing her face into the cushions. He wondered if there was anything she wanted to do later today and began to worry what she would do tomorrow; he may have been put on leave from official missions, but he still liked to go on a morning run when he could. Minami was a civilian, so he doubted she would keep up with his pace. There had to be something he could find for her to do while he did his morning workout routine.

_ Crap, what are we gonna do until Baa-chan finds her a place of her own? _

“Na-ru-to- _ kun, _ ” Minami kept an eye on him while he internally freaked out and rolled onto her side to face him. This, she noted, put them uncomfortably up close and personal to each other and well beyond any personal space insecurities either of them had. She reached up to squish his face so that he would pay attention to her. “Relax, okay? We’ll think of something.”

She got to her feet and started looking for where she could put her things away and smiled when she heard him sigh heavily from the couch.

“Here, let me help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm actually having a ton of fun writing this. I think I really needed to write something light and fun because writing for Unchained Melody has me stressing--lots of research went into that one so I'm on a much needed break from it.


	5. Chapter 5

Their first fight as roommates didn't even happen in their own apartment.

"You can't live off of ramen!"

"You just said you liked it!"

"Well, yeah because it tastes good, but you need more than ramen if you want to stay healthy, Naruto-kun!"

Ramen Ichiraku was currently witnessing its first ever shouting match between their number one client and his recently introduced roommate. Ayame was barely paying attention to the food she was supposed to be preparing because it was just so fascinating.

"I grew up on this stuff, Minami-chan! I've done just fine." Naruto couldn't believe his ears. He thought he finally found a friend who could appreciate ramen as much as he did and then she goes and pulls this. In front of Old Man Teuchi no less!

"At least tell me this isn't all we're going to be eating from now on," Minami pleaded and felt a vein in her head begin to throb when Naruto immediately looked down at his empty bowl. "Are you serious?!"

"Ah, to be fair Minami-san," Teuchi cut in, "Naruto-kun has only done so well because of the additional vitamins we added in for his benefit--"

"--YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" The two roommates barked and went back to being absolutely done with each other.

 _This is really not how I thought my night would go,_ Minami grumbled internally and hopped off of her stool. "I'm gonna head back. Just pay Teuchi-san and go do whatever it is you had planned for tonight." She suddenly felt exhausted after such a long day.

"You can't just go back by yourself!" Naruto shouted indignantly before quietly thanking Teuchi and Ayame for the meal, who offered it as a freebie. "Minami-chan!"

She _really_ didn't want to hear it right then. She vaguely remembered the route they took to get to the ramen stand and had already started walking back to the apartment. She could hear him walking up to her and let the fight drain out of her. It just wasn't worth staying angry at someone who was genuinely kind to her throughout the day.

"Minami-chan?" Naruto was mortally afraid that she was about to cry. She had gone completely silent and her shoulders were hunched while she slowly walked away from him.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to yell at you and it's not fair to you after helping me out today." Most of her anger and frustration towards him had been turned inwards and she was currently stressing about the food situation. Maybe there was someone she could ask about going grocery shopping for more than snacks or ramen? All her current friends and acquaintances were either Naruto or other shinobi who had rather active lifestyles.

Minami let out a squeak of surprise when she was suddenly lifted into Naruto's arms bridal style.

"Naruto-kun what--"

"I'm sorry too. It's just been a long day and thinking about what the both of us would eat was one the things I didn't think about." He said to her before leaping off to the rooftops towards his home. He wasn't really used to having someone else living with him and mentally berated himself for neglecting something so important as food. He knew about the extra vitamins to his ramen from Chouji, who told him years ago that it was his family that made the additional nutrients and sold it to the food vendors.

"We'll just worry about it tomorrow, then." She mumbled against his chest before kissing him on the cheek. "You're a good friend, you know." She stifled a giggle when his grip on her tightened from the peck of a kiss she gave him. _He certainly was a cutie when he was all flustered_ , she told herself before breaking the silence between them. "I wish I could do what you do. Flying like this, I mean. It probably cuts down on travel time by a lot."

"It tends to help when you know the general area really well," he told her absently while an idea sprang into his mind. She wouldn't have to be a ninja to learn to run around the village like one. There were some neighborhood kids that had taught him how before he went to the academy. _Maybe I can ask them to help her out while I go on my run in the morning._

 

 

When they arrived at his apartment, Naruto was amused to see that Minami had fallen asleep in his arms and struggled for a moment to unlock the front door. Closing it gently behind him, he sat on his couch with her in his lap so that he could remove both their sandals.

"Nnn….Naruto-kun…?" She asked sleepily as he rubbed her back.

"You can have my bed, okay? I'll pull out the futon for myself later. Just go back to sleep. I've got you." He said with a huff when her arms looped around his shoulders as he carried her to his room. He made sure to clear his bed of any weapons or scrolls he had on it before setting her down and tucking her in. "Goodnight, Minami-chan."

He got a soft snore and mumble in return.

Smiling in amusement, he closed the bedroom door to head back out into his living room. He let out a groan at who was lounging on his couch and reaching Icha-Icha.

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are, Sensei. I picked up your chakra signature before he went to Ichiraku's." He said to his former teacher before taking a seat on the couch next to him.

"Quite the pair of lungs you two have," Kakashi said as he turned a page in his book. "You do know that you have to be cautious with this situation, right? I can't always be there to remind you that every stray you meet isn't someone you can save."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I know, alright? As far as we know, she's not a spy or anything and doesn't have any ill-intent. Kurama says she has the potential to become a shinobi if you want to add that into the official report for today."

"Noted."

Kakashi didn't like or dislike this girl; he was partially to blame for her throwing up all over him if he had to be fair. However, it was their village's leniency towards outsiders that tended to bite them in the ass ninety-percent of the time. His former student was one of the most lenient out of the village population to boot, but he did trust in his judgement.

"So did you buy her the matching set or--" He was cut off by Naruto's hand trying to slap the book out of his grip and just chuckled at the indignant expression on the blond's face.


	6. Chapter 6

Minami crawled out of bed in the middle of the night to change into something more comfortable. She stripped out of her clothes and dug into Naruto's closet for one of his short sleeved shirts and slipped that over her head. Yawning, she stumbled down the hall to the living room and blinked at what she saw.

"What are you, five?" She asked indignantly while Kakashi continued to scribble onto his former student's face with a marker.

"He knows better than to fall asleep before me." Satisfied with his work, he capped the marker and pushed Naruto's face in her direction.

Minami had to cover her mouth with her hands to stifle her laughter. "B-Boobs! Really? You know he's going to have to go outside eventually!"

He smiled back at her in a way that made his one visible eye crinkle and she felt her heart stop. _Oh, the lord is testing me._ She was suddenly very aware that she wore nothing under Naruto's shirt, but damn it, she could be an adult during this situation!

Still very amused with her roommate's new face decoration, she chuckled and sat next to Kakashi-she adamantly ignored the way the shirt rode up on her thighs and cleared her throat. "Sorry for throwing up on you when we met."

"No, it was technically my fault since you were injured at the time and that much movement probably wasn't the healthiest way to transport you to the hospital." Man, but was it a pain to get his jonin vest washed before he went on his next mission. It wasn't really a problem since he could have easily gotten another one; it's just that _that one_ was his favorite.

"Still…" Minami had to do something even though it _was_ his fault. "How about we have lunch sometime." At his incredulous look, she held up both hands and said, "I mean like...when I have a job or when you're not busy. It doesn't have to be soon, but at least it means I forgive you for making me throw up on you."

 _Do not start fantasizing about Kakashi. Do not start fantasizing about Kakashi. For God's sake woman, don't you dare start panting._ It was so different being consciously aware of the man sitting next to her versus their previous meeting where she was trying to molest his body with her own when he was trying to help her. _I could be dreaming about this instead._ With that in mind, she stood from her seat.

"Well. I'm gonna head back to bed. It was nice to meet you while I'm actually conscious. Have a good night." She said with a smile and headed back to bed where she could enjoy her fantasy dreams in peace.

Watching the younger woman walk away, Kakashi was struck with an ingenious idea and decided to wait until he was certain she was fast asleep. Naruto was out cold and would remain unconscious to the world until he would wake for his morning run; this definitely worked in Kakashi's favor...

**...**

Naruto was slow to wake the following morning; he just felt so comfortable in his own bed for once. He was buried in a cocoon of warmth and his body had that lethargic feeling that usually came from when he desperately needed the rest. But there was something different about this morning and he just couldn't put his finger on it. Squeezing his pillow closer, his eyes snapped open when his pillow moaned.

_What the…?_

It took him a moment to realize that the cocoon of warmth was not actually his blanket, but a body curled around his own like an octopus. Minami had her arms wrapped around his middle and her legs tangled with his. He felt his heart skip a beat when he lifted himself up just enough to see that she was wearing one of his shirts. And _only_ his shirt. Which mean that the 'pillow' his hands were squeezing was in fact…

_Oh, fuck._

Praying to whatever God was listening, Naruto slowly tried to extract himself from Minami's grip and yelped pitifully when she moved higher up his body and squeezed her thighs around his hips. He was definitely not going to be moving any time soon.

_Sensei, you're a dead man when I see you next._


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto had never thanked the Ninja Academy more than ever for teaching him the Substitution Technique. He let out a sigh of relief as Minami curled herself around the pillow he replaced himself with. Creating a Shadow Clone, he instructed it to keep an eye on her--from an appropriate distance--while he went out for his morning run. It wasn’t like she could get into any trouble while in his home. 

_“Famous last words, Naruto-kun.”_

When Minami awoke, it was to her stomach growling and the sun shining in her eyes.

“Naruto-kun, I’m hungry,” she mumbled while rubbing at her eyes and pushing away the fall of hair from her face. She pat at the empty beside her and frowned. “Naruto-kun?” 

She walked around the small apartment to look for him and found him in the kitchen trying to cook something.  

“Naruto-kun, do you even know how to make rice?” She said from her position by the kitchen wall, arms crossed and eyes dancing with amusement. 

“Uh, I mean it can’t be that difficult, right?” The Shadow Clone replied nervously. “The water just goes in the pot with the rice and into the rice cooker.” 

Something was very...off about Naruto, but Minami couldn’t put her finger on what. Either way, at the pace he was going, he was going to burn their food. 

“In theory, yes. Here, I’ll do it or else we won’t have anything to eat for lunch.” She shoo’d him away from the sink and got to work. Thank goodness he hadn’t put the pot in the cooker yet, the water was way too low and it would have burned right away. She clucked her tongue and added more water before checking the measurement with her finger. “Naruto-kun, could you make some tea while we wait for the rice to cook?”

“Sure thing, Minami-chan.”

 

_A short thirty minutes later…_

 

“Naruto-kun, you absolute MORON!”

All Minami had wanted to do was take a bath, wear some new clothes and finally get a peek at the Icha Icha books she had found in Naruto’s room before they could eat. Except for the part where he somehow ruined the tea, the teapot, and the kettle.

Shadow Clone Naruto really only had himself to blame. After all, he was a bit occupied watching Minami walk around in nothing but a towel while digging through shopping bags to get dressed. And Actual Naruto _had_ said to keep an eye on her; just probably not while he would be doing something like pouring boiling hot water into a teapot--which missed the teapot entirely. In his panic to clean up the literal hot mess before she noticed, he accidentally knocked the teapot off the counter, thus shattering it.

Crap, that was a gift from Shizune-neechan too.

“Naruto-kun, what was that?” Minami was now fully dressed and was walking towards the noise in the kitchen.

“Um, uh...nothing!”

“This doesn’t look like noth- _ing!”_ She said the last syllable with a shriek as she slipped on a bit of the spilled water on the floor. _If I end up in the hospital again, Tsunade-san will probably kill me_ , was her thought before she felt strong arms around her to break her fall. Although imagine her surprise when Naruto twisted at the last second so it was his body that hit the floor and suddenly poofed out of existence with a plume of smoke.

_“Naruto-kun, you absolute MORON!”_

Her cry of outrage had the ANBU surveillance team chuckling from the opposite building. Kakashi had tipped them off earlier that morning that this low-ranked assignment was at least going to be amusing.

Naruto had just finished negotiations with his old acquaintances when the memories of his Shadow Clone reached him. _Aw crap,_ he internally swore and high tailed it back home. Technically, he wasn’t actually shirking his duties on this assignment and technically he _was_ keeping an eye on her. He just had...other things to do. 

This living with another person thing was going to be a lot more difficult than he anticipated. Especially since there wasn’t exactly a set time limit for the duration of this particular mission. As far as he knew, it was until his chakra fully replenished itself so he could go back on active missions.

As he passed the apartment building across from his, he scowled when the surveillance team gave him a mock-salute. Oh, yeah. He was definitely gonna be getting flak for this one once they reported back to Baa-chan.

He fidgeted in front of his front door before slowly opening it. “T-Tadaima, Minami-chan.”

“Okaeri,” her reply was cold and her eyes didn’t leave the pages of the book she held in front of her.

After she had cleaned up the mess, she settled for eating the freshly cooked rice and snooping through the Icha Icha books until she found one to start reading. It wasn’t nearly as perverse as she thought it would be and briefly wondered if she could be introduced to Jiraiya to speak with him on it. She knew Naruto would be returning shortly and decided to wait for him while silently fuming that he had actually left her alone at his place.

To be fair, she half-wondered if he even took this assignment seriously and felt half of her anger drain out of her. Well, she supposed that even he wouldn’t take babysitting a civilian seriously and she was probably an inconvenience to whatever set routine he already had.

“Ano...I’m sorry, Minami-chan. I thought I could finish some errands before you woke up and...I’m sorry.” Naruto apologized sincerely and knew he should have just taken her with him. This whole mess could have been avoided and he could have showed her around the village like he had earlier planned on doing anyway.

_God, I’m pathetic._

“Just don’t do it again, okay?” The book closed with a snap and she looked up at him from her spot on the couch with weary eyes.

“Unless it’s an emergency, I promise I won’t leave you by yourself again. Also...where did you get that book?” He finally noticed the copy of Icha Icha in her hands and felt himself flush red.

“In your room. I felt like reading something and it was there on your desk,” she said with a sly grin. “Are you embarrassed? It’s surprisingly well-written for being a smut book.”

“You sound like Kakashi-sensei,” he muttered under this breath and sat down next to her. “I found some friends who can help you around the village.” He held up his hands at her sudden incredulous look. “I’ll be with you the entire time, but you’ll be able to ‘fly’ around like I do.”

“Seriously?! But I’m not in the best shape to even do that!” But she was pretty excited at the thought of it.

“That’s why I said I’ll be with you when we go. We’re going to have to get your stamina and endurance up, so I asked another friend to help out. He’s basically a pro runner when it comes to stamina, so he’ll be the best teacher.”

_Oh, God. It’s either Bushy Brows or Bushy Brows Jr!_

But then again, it was still a better way to spend her time than moping around Naruto’s apartment worrying about how she would survive in this world.

“Thank you, Naruto-kun,” she said with a smile. “When do we start?”

“We’ll be meeting up with Lee and his team for lunch soon. It’s a lot of our days’ off so a bunch of my friends from my Academy days are meeting up at BBQ place. I was on my way back to take you when my Shadow Clone well...you know.”

It’s a damn good thing she only ate a little bit of the rice because Minami suddenly felt ravenously hungry for some actual food besides rice or ramen.

“So that’s what took you so long! How soon are we going? Aw crap, I haven’t even brushed my hair yet. Do you have a brush? It probably looks so crazy right now.” She was on her feet and pacing back and forth in front of him. “Did we even buy me a brush?”

Naruto sat back against the cushions and watched her actions with amused eyes. She really was just a normal civilian girl and even Kurama couldn’t sense an ounce of malicious intent in her body. His word alone wouldn’t prove anything, so that’s why he suggested she meet up with his friends to see what they thought. She already hit it off pretty well with Kiba and it would do her some good to see another friendly face while they were on inactive duty.

“Minami-chan,” he gently snagged her wrist and pulled her down to the floor in front him. “Relax. I’ll brush your hair for you and then we can go.”

During his three years abroad with Ero-sensei, his experience with girls had taken a drastic change. He sure as hell treated them a lot better than his Super Pervert sensei, but he did know how to treat them kindly.

“Okay. Sorry for being such a worry-wort. I just want to make a good impression on your friends,” she mumbled against her her knees. She had drawn them up to her chest while Naruto began to brush away the tangles in her hair.

“Don’t worry, Kiba-kun said you were fun to talk with. I’m sure he only has good things to say about you,” he said while he parted her hair into thirds to braid for her. Minami’s hair was quite long and nearly as heavy as Jiraiya’s. He mostly only knew how to braid because he was taught by some of the ladies from the brothels he had been to for Jiraiya’s ‘research’.

He tied off the end with some leftover wire that was in his pocket before patting her on the shoulder. “We’re all set to go, now that you’re ready.”

 

 

 

He took her to the Akimichi House of BBQ.

“Oh, Minami-san, Naruto-kun. If you’re looking for the others, they’re in the private room at the back,” Kiba said from behind a platter full of cooked meat as they passed him.

“Thanks, Kiba-kun.” Naruto said and ushered Minami towards the back room.

“Oi! Don’t tell me you’re all eating without me!” Naruto yelled at the rambunctious bunch that consisted of his former classmates.

“Idiot. If you were hungry, you should have showed up earlier,” said Sasuke with a smirk.

 _What the FUCK kind of timeline did I end up in?!_  

Minami forced herself to repress any kind of shocked reaction and gave the room a small wave. “Sorry, that was my fault. I took too long to get ready.”

“Oh, you must be Minami-san. Otou-san said you’d be around our age,” Shikamaru casually greeted the newcomer. “Try not to be too intimidated. We’re not as bad as Naruto says.”

“You’re all worse, actually!” Ino sniffed in mock disdain. “Inviting a growing woman to such a heavy caloried meal; have you no shame?” She grinned and patted the seat next to her, “Minami-san, come sit with us. Kiba-kun should be back with the food soon. I’m Yamanaka Ino. You met Otou-san at the hospital, remember? 

“Oh, yeah I did. He was really nice and even brought me flowers on my last day there. They were super pretty.” She said with a smile as she took the offered seat. 

“I’m glad you thought so! Kaa-san and I picked them out for you! We run a flower shop on the civilian side, you see.” Ino said while she picked at the food in front of them with her chopsticks.

“No wonder they were so pretty! You knew just what to pick!”

“Yup!”

Shikamaru and Sasuke kept their eyes on the civilian while everyone chatted around them. She didn’t look particularly strong, but they knew strength didn’t always mean physical.  The fact that she was close to Naruto already made them suspicious regardless if she didn’t feel like a threat to them.

“Are you dogs or ninja?!” Kiba shouted over the uproar of voices when he arrived with the meat platter. “Chouji-kun, no biting! Wait for your turn--OI! I SAID NO BITING!”

Looking not all that dissimilar from a whale breaching from the ocean, Chouji snatched a good chunk of the meat off the platter before crashing down to his seat. Both Shino and Neji nonchalantly shifted away from the larger ninja and were unsurprised at how quickly he righted himself before digging into his meal.

 _Ninja sure are agile,_ thought Minami while her mind processed what she was seeing. They really were a fun group to be around and as curious as she was about how they ended up this way--she was absolutely DYING to know how or why Sasuke remained in the village--she was well-aware of just how much scrutiny she was under.

“Oh, so you’re my new student! I’m Rock Lee and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Urameshi-san! Naruto-kun explained to me your situation! It’s later in the day than I would like, so I’ve written up an exercise routine for you start with tomorrow morning before our endurance run!” Lee said with every bit of genuine enthusiasm that Minami was almost positive that she was hallucinating waves crashing upon a cliff face behind him.

“Just nod and smile, Urameshi-san,” said Tenten from across the table. “If you look at it too long, you can almost feel your brain cells die.”

“Eh?!” It was good to know that she wasn’t completely hallucinating the Bushy Brow Effect. “Um, thank you Lee-san? Or should I call you Lee-sensei instead?”

“Now you’ve done it,” Neji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while his eccentric teammate’s eyes started to water in joy. 

“I would be most honored to be your sensei, Urameshi-san!”

“Ne, Idiot.” Sasuke spoke in low tones so the others wouldn’t hear him, “You do realize you’ll be spending more time with Green Beast Jr. right?”

Naruto felt the blood drain from his face, but watching his roommate get along so well with his closest friends warmed his heart too. “Well...it’ll be good for me too. I can still fulfill my primary assignment without breaking from my training routine while my chakra coils recover.” 

“Wow, that was surprisingly adult of you to say, Naruto-kun.” Shikamaru commented with a raised brow.

“Tch. I have my moments, you know." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "Pass the pork cutlets, will you?"


	8. Chapter 8

Minami had never before wished so hard that she had been in better shape than this moment. The squats were okay; she still struggled with the push-ups and the pull-ups, but the leg lifts after ten sets of each had her wanting to drown herself in the bath. 

And it was going to be an every other day thing until her new sensei deemed her ready. On the off days, she would go with Naruto for his runs--albeit at a much more sedate pace because two miles into the jog, she fell flat on her face and refused to get up.

So now she sat in the bathtub feeling like she wanted to die. 

“Minami-chan?” Naruto knocked on the bathroom door. “You’ve been in there for a while. Are you okay?”

A pitiful whimper was her only reply as she dragged herself out and flopped onto the bathroom floor. _Get up, you weenie._ She said to herself and forced her body to work so she could at least wrap a towel around herself.

Unfortunately, that took about the last of her energy and she found herself propped against the wall beside the door and shivering. “N-Naruto-kun?” She asked timidly, her chattering teeth making her words tremble. “C-Can y-you help m-me?”

On the other side of the door, Naruto sighed. His Mega Perv Sensei would probably have given an arm and a leg to be in this position, but not Naruto. Sure he was a growing teen and had hormones like many of the boys his age, _but_ Minami had no shame and was constantly trying his patience. At night, she would crawl into his futon or drag him into his bed saying she was cold and that it was healthier to sleep with extra body heat. 

_“Just accept your fate and take it like a man, you brat,”_ Kurama would growl at him whenever he knew that he would be in a semi-nude situation with Minami, which was actually quite often.

But he wasn’t without sympathy. He could still remember the Hell that was strengthening his body as a child, but Minami didn’t have the benefit of being a Jinchuuriki to aid her like he did, so she was most likely experiencing her own version of Hell.

Turning the doorknob, he was marginally grateful that she was at least wearing a towel this time--the amount of times he had walked in on her in the bath was already in the double digits in the few weeks they began living together.

Minami barely even twitched when she was lifted into his arms and couldn’t even muster a lewd joke while he carried her to his bed; she just felt that wiped out. She could only grumble when he took one of his shirts and pulled it down over her head and helped her arms with the sleeves before he pulled the towel away from her damp skin. And like usual, she clung to him like a burr when he would try and leave the bed.

“Minami-chan, you know that I have to take a bath too,” he said and felt his eye twitch when she snuggled even closer.

“I told you we could have just bathed together, you know.” she mumbled against his chest and giggled at his squawk of protest.

“Have you no shame?” He almost whined. The amount of times that he had used that phrase in the short time they’ve lived together was well into the triple digits.

Fatigue dragged her down and she reluctantly let go of him.

“Go and take your bath, Naruto-kun. Don’t forget you have to come back and fix my hair for me,” she said with a tired smile. It was part of their nightly routine with each other and it would inevitably end up with a flustered and aggravated Naruto trapped in bed with a blanket hog.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

 

 

 

“Urameshi-san!”

“Lee-sensei!”

“Urameshi-san!”

“Lee-sensei!”

“Urameshi-san!”

“Lee--Ow! What the hell, Naruto-kun?!” Minami snapped when her roommate put her in a mock chokehold.

“Just... _don’t_ ever do that. You’re giving me flashbacks,” Naruto said with a shudder.

These two were rapidly becoming his biggest pet peeve during his assignment because the way they interacted brought back many unwanted memories of Gai-sensei and Lee crying and embracing each other.

Although Lee would make a great teacher since he was the most patient man he’d ever seen. He was encouraging when Minami struggled and stern when she would whine, but nonetheless patient when he would explain just how much these exercises would help her in the long run.

They were at one of the many training grounds and while Lee helped Minami get in shape, Naruto would try to meditate nearby while one of his shadow clones supervised the workout.

The keyword here being: _try._

“Impressive, Urameshi-san! You’re now able to do fifteen push-ups with little assistance!”

“Thank you so much, Lee-sensei! You’re the best sensei ever!”

“Urameshi-san!”

“Lee-sensei!”

“Urameshi-san!”

“Lee-sensei!”

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

“This is amazing!” Minami shouted while she played the craziest game of Tag with some of street kids of Konoha. Naruto and Lee had been preparing her for Running. Or as in she knew it in her own world, was Free Running or Parkour. 

“Ne, Minami-neechan?” said Saizo, the ‘leader’ of the street kids, “Are you dating Naruto-kun?”

Minami came to a stuttering halt and felt her face bounce off a wall. “Ouch! Uh, no? What the hell gave you that idea?”

Oh, she knew very well what gave them that idea. Most of her time spent with Naruto involved her being somehow in his arms in one way or another. Whether it was by Piggy-back or carried bridal style because she was just too lazy to walk. Or it might have been their weekly arguments at Ichiraku’s that half the neighborhood could hear.

...or maybe that time he punched the daylights out of his Mega Perv Sensei for peeping in on the Women’s side of the Bath House while she happened to be in it with Ino and Tenten. For which he got some massive Brownie Points with the female shinobi portion of Konoha’s population. That incident was across the village in less than a day and he was even getting free favors from local female vendors. Needless to say, shopping had become an increasingly easy experience since most of their purchases were getting delivered free of charge.

“Uh...no reason. Come on, I’ll show you the fastest way to the Training Grounds since you go there so often. We’ll work on trees next and I’m gonna warn you now, if you’re not paying attention, one will jump out in front of you.”

 

  

 

_ “...are you fucking kidding me?!” _

Even the ANBU surveillance team, who had been watching over their long term assignment for two months, had flinched at the sheer outrage in Minami’s voice.

“What, were you just going to leave a note behind saying you were called away on a mission before letting me even know I would be left by myself?” 

Minami was furious. 

She had come home earlier than usual because Saizo and the other kids had to help at their parents’ shops for the day. Imagine her surprise when Naruto was walking out in full travel gear and had the balls to even smile at her before dropping the bomb on her that he was called back onto active duty that morning.

“I was,” said Naruto, not even bothering to make up an excuse because she had a right to be angry with him. “I’m sorry, but Baa-chan needs me for this one. It’s only for two weeks,” he reassured her and pulled her in for a hug. “I know I said I wouldn’t leave you alone, but this is my job.”

“I know it’s your job, dammit! Just,” she huffed and then pouted, “Just be careful, okay?” 

“I’ll be fine,” he smiled when she finally decided to hug him back. “Sasuke and Kiba will be with me and you know how they refuse to let me do what I want. And don’t worry about being on your own because Baa-chan said you don’t have to have someone with you when you travel around the village.”

She snorted at that and pointed an indignant finger in the direction of the surveillance team. “Yeah, I know. It’s because  _ they’ll _ still be watching.” 

“Hi Minami-chan!” An over enthusiastic Okami shouted from across the way before he was smacked on the back of his head by a teammate.

“Don’t worry about them,” Naruto said before taking a step back and smiling at her annoyed expression. “Come on, aren’t you going to kiss me good bye?” 

It was a running joke between the two of them ever since she’d sneak in a kiss on his cheek whenever he had to run some personal errands. He had become accustomed to the little signs of affection and occasionally goaded her into it like he was doing now. But the way the annoyed grimace melted away into a mischievous smirk had a shiver crawl up his spine.

“Na-ru-to- _ kun _ ,” Minami all but purred before grabbing the lapels of his jacket and pulled him down for one whopper of a kiss that had their audience across the building wolf-whistling and shouting about public indecency. 

Naruto’s brain went completely blank when her tongue slipped into his mouth. He felt like the ground moved under his feet and that he had been knocked on his ass with a warm and furious Minami moving sensuously on his lap. It took him a moment to realize that was exactly what happened and right before his hormones really kicked in, she was moving away from him and back onto her feet. She had her hands on her hips and she winked at him.

“Don’t forget to bring me back a souvenir, okay?”

He nodded back and brought his fingertips to his lips. Had that really just happened? Was this a fever dream? Before he could ask any of his questions aloud, she had snuck in one more kiss before waving good-bye and walking into their apartment.

“There’ll be no living with her after this,” he mumbled as he got back to his feet with a scowl on his face.

 

 

 

News of the kiss had spread across the shinobi ranks by nightfall and the senior ranked ninja were abuzz with gossip. 

“I told you she’d make a move on him. Jiraiya-san would be so disappointed in his prodigal student,” Genma said with a cluck of his tongue. 

“It’s not that surprising, you know. The boy is oblivious to the affections of women,” Kotetsu said from across their shared table. “I heard she unnerves him on purpose for fun.”

“Sadistic minx,” commented Izumo while he nursed his drink.

Just then, a small commotion from the next table caught their attention.

“Anko,  _ no!  _ You can’t invite an underaged civilian under probation to go out drinking!” Kurenai hissed at her already tipsy friend.

“S’better than her moping around at home now that she’s been left behind. And last I checked, she’s eighteen! Basically an adult and if anything, Naruto-kun is the one who’s underaged. I don’t know about you, but she sounds like fun!” 

Anko was already stumbling to her feet with a salacious grin while her fellow kunoichi just shook her head in disappointment. 

Thinking back on his earlier comment, Izumo looked up from his drink to look at his friends, who all had the same expressions on their faces. 

_ “Oh, shit.” _


	10. Chapter 10

The two of them got on like a house on fire.

Mitarashi Anko was quickly climbing the list of acquaintances to friends for Minami. She had pounded on the front door of Naruto’s apartment with a drunken, “Oi! Urameshi-san!”

To which Minami replied with an equally drunken, “Eh?”

She had drank herself into a stupor after she was sure that Naruto had left and had been laying on the living room floor wearing a mix of his and her clothes. She lazily rolled over and crawled to the door to open it.

“Oho, you’ll do nicely!” Anko grinned down at the young adult who blinked up wearily at her. “Come on, you’re coming to my place. We’re gonna slut you up and party!”

“H-Huh?!” Was all Minami could stammer out before she was yanked out the door and pulled outside by Anko.

“Let’s go, girlie!” The older and stronger woman pulled her new friend along to her own apartment, which was conveniently just a few floors down. “Come on, come,” she said cheerily while forcefully stripping the younger girl.

“M-Mitarashi-san, wait!” Minami panicked in her drunken haze and tried to cover her rapidly exposed body.

“Don’t be shy, don’t be shy,” chanted a grinning Anko while pushing Minami into the bathroom. “I need help with something and you’re just the girl to help me with it!”

“Hey, where are you touching?!”

“Also, call me Anko. Now that we’ve seen each other naked, I’d say that makes us friends.”

  
  


“Kanpai!”

The two women shouted in unison as the waitress poured more sake into their cups. The bar Anko had brought them to had given the two drunkards wide berth once the patrons realized just how alike the two of them really were. They went round after round, babbling about men, genin who thought they knew everything, men, bullshit mission reports, men, paperwork, and men.

“You ever fucked a teacher?”

Minami, who was too drunk to even spit out what she just threw back, laughed uproariously and winked at her new friend.

“Good thing you’re not an actual teacher. You’d scar the children for life.”

“That’s true. Would you still want to though? I know some.”

They had talked in great length about how as much as Minami messed with Naruto, neither of them were looking for a decent relationship. They both just had an itch that needed scratching.

“I bet you do,” Minami said while she stared up at the ceiling. “If I had to choose one that I’ve already met, I’d probably do Kakashi.”

Anko nodded in perfect understanding.

“Well you did spew bodily fluids at him so technically you’ve already staked your claim. He’s a tough one to catch, and trust me, many have tried.”

Anko launched into a story about Kakashi in his late teens and how women, both civilian and shinobi alike, were biting at the bit to get into that man’s pants or at least under his mask. “As far as I know, Ayame from Ramen Ichiraku got to see it once and has given him discounts ever since.”

“Lucky girl,” Minami groused and blinked when the room began to swim. “Can I have more sake? The room is starting to spin.”

Anko snorted in amusement and waved at their hostess. “I like you more every passing minute. So is it true that Rock Lee is training you?”

“Gee, news does travel fast on the shinobi grapevine,” Minami muttered before downing another cup of sake. “Yeah, it was Naruto’s idea. Something about not wanting to break his workout routine, but it’s fine. I do this thing that bothers him _so much_ whenever I see Lee, so it’s not all bad.”

“What could possibly bother that idiot?”

“Well, actually it’s--” Minami was cut off by the impromptu arrival of her pseudo sensei and his former sensei.

“Urameshi-san!” Lee cried out in surprise.

“Lee-sensei!” Minami shouted back with a drunken grin.

“Urameshi-san..?” Gai sensei asked as he had no knowledge of his former pupil taking on a disciple.

“Gai-sensei,” said Lee as he led his teacher to his obviously inebriated friend, “this is Naruto-kun’s friend, Urameshi Minami.”

“Oh my god, I see what you mean now,” said a horrified Anko after witnessing that nostalgic exchange.

“Ah, Urameshi-san. I see you are partaking in the waters of youth. May we join you?”

It might have been Minami’s imagination, but she was pretty sure Gai-sensei gave Anko a sly wink. Oh god. The very thought of those two hooking up gave her the heebie jeebies, but it wasn’t like he would mistreat her new friend in any way. And as far as she knew, Gai had the stamina of a cross-country racer.

  


 

“I don’t know why I never thought of this before,” muttered Anko from her position on the picnic blanket. She, Minami, Gai, Genma, Kotetsu and Izumo were at the top of the Hokage monument holding an impromptu midnight picnic.

“Because you spend more time sober than you should be,” chuckled Minami from where she was sprawled on top of Genma, who was kind enough to give her free use of his lap.

“Do you really think this is okay? I mean...it’s not like there’s signs posted anywhere that we can’t do this, but…”

“Izumo, my friend, your cup looks empty. I shall refill it for you,” Gai cut in with a bottle of sake that he pulled from the picnic basket they had brought along with them. A couple hundred ryo was all it took for the bartender to load them up for the night, but it might have had something to do with getting the drunken shinobi out of his bar.

“Ne, Minami-chan, how old are you again?” Genma asked as he was getting slightly distracted by the teen squirming around on his lap.

“Oho, am I making you uncomfortable Genma-san? Don’t worry, I may look like you just picked me up from school, but I’m actually eighteen years old,” Minami said with a wink and a not-so-subtle wiggle of her hips. Because Kami be damned if she wasn’t going to get some action while her roommate was out of town.

Anko barked out a laugh at her new friend’s behavior; she knew she had made the right the decision in taking out the younger girl. She also had the right sense to dress her up in her old clothes that were unnecessarily revealing yet still comfortable. The laced up knee-high heels were a nice touch and at least those Minami had chosen for herself.

“So what has my esteemed pupil been teaching you, Urameshi-san?” Gai was honestly curious since it was quite rare for a civilian to receive any sort of training from a shinobi. Especially if said civilian previously had spoken of having zero intention of becoming a shinobi.

“Well, Naruto-kun still had to do his training routine, but we both knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. So Lee-sensei has been helping me build up my stamina so I could go Running with the street kids from the Market District so I could learn my way around the village better.” Minami said while swirling the sake around in her cup. “It’s a lot of fun, actually. Some of the kids I run with go to the Academy and they say it’s more like training for them to keep up.”

“Keep up? How fast are you now?” Izumo asked.

“I...don’t really know. Saizo-kun is still the fastest besides Naruto-kun, then there’s Kohonamaru-kun and then me. We’re not really racing for real though.” Damn, just the thought about running again had her nerves humming with excitement. Even in her old world, being an adrenaline junkie was a big part of her lifestyle.

She didn’t notice it, but the five jounin shared a contemplative look. They knew Saizo was a local delivery boy and Naruto and Kohonamaru’s general speed was nothing to scoff at either. Minami-chan may not want to be a shinobi, but she was gaining the ability to potentially be one if she really wanted to.

“I really should be getting back home soon,” Minami said after skipping the cup and going straight for the bottle. “My ANBU surveillance team is gonna be pissed if I don’t show up at all.”

“How do you know they’re not here watching you?” Kotetsu asked while gathering up their mess.

Minami rolled her eyes and said “Oh, please. If they were really here, Okami would drinking with us and Tora would be smacking the back of his head for drinking on the job. Nah, I know they dropped off after the first bar Anko-san took me to.”

The weird part was...she actually _had_ noticed when they had left her with Anko. She got so used to Running with the street kids that she had begun to notice little things around the village that were out of place or ‘too normal’ to be normal.

_When the Hell did I start noticing stuff like this?_

Minami didn’t _want_ to become a shinobi but damned if she didn’t notice how she was starting to change since coming to this world.

Izumo, Kotetsu, and Genma nodded to one another behind Minami’s back. This was worth reporting back to the Hokage in the morning. Gai signed to the others that he would escort Minami home while they would write their reports.

Meanwhile, Anko had taken off her jacket to give to Minami, who looked as if she were shivering in the cold air. In reality, Minami shook her head and started to do some basic stretches.

“Nah, don’t worry about me, Anko-san. I may be drunk, but right now I feel like Running, you know? It’s too bad the other kids are sleeping right now. They’d love a night run like this,” she said with a dreamy sigh.

“If you’re sure, Minami-chan. I still have to head back to the bar and take care of some things, but Gai can escort you back to Naruto’s place if you’d like.” Anko said with an inclination of her head in Gai’s direction.

“Yosh! It would be my honor to return you home safely, Urameshi-san!”

“Thanks Gai-san. Do you mind if we run there? I’ll fall asleep on my feet if we just walk,” Minami grinned as she finished her stretches.

“Uh, Minami-chan? You’re wearing heels and you want to run in those?” Izumo said with a frown. The stiletto heels she was wearing were at least four inches high and she had wobbled her way up to the monument when they had arrived.

Minami quirked an eyebrow up at him. Man, these military types had no idea the pain a civilian would go through to look good. Back in her own world, her favorite pair of heels were at least five to six inches and she had hopped fences in those. _Time to see if I still got it,_ she thought with a chuckle.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve run in higher ones than these,” she said with an experiment tap of the heel against the dirt. Bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, she determined that these shoes would hold up well for what she wanted to do this night. “Gai-san, would you be so kind as to help me down?”

“Of course, Minami-san.” Gai said and lifted her into his arms. This girl had spirit and he was curious to see what kind of Run she had in mind. There were still quite a bit of trees from here to Naruto’s apartment as they would have to cut through a few training grounds. But he did crack a smile at her shout of exhilaration when he leapt off the Hokage Monument down to the ground level.

From the top of Monument, the remaining Jounin had unanimously decided to follow them just in case.

 

 

“YA-HA!” Minami shouted as Gai plummeted them down to the ground.

Blood pumping and heart racing, she used the jounin’s back as spring board and launched herself forward. She hit the ground with a shoulder roll that would make Captain James T. Kirk proud and sprang back onto her feet. She tore through the Monument Park like a bat out of Hell and rushed through the playground with all the joy a drunken teenager could manage. She slid through the bars of the jungle gym with a delighted laugh; this was what Running was for her. It was absolute freedom for her to let loose like this.

 _Tomorrow’s hangover is gonna suck, but if I’m too exhausted from Running then I can sleep through most of it,_ she thought to herself before catching sight of the flower painted on the side of a building that indicated the direction of the training grounds. Saizo had told her that one of the neighborhood kids had painted it and that it was an unofficial marker if anyone ever got lost. Supposedly more than one kid tended to get lost in their own village at some point, so it made sense to use objects that rarely disappeared as a checkpoint of sorts.

It also was a warning to watch out for the--

“Goddamn trees,” Minami growled under her breath while she threw her body to the left to avoid the tree that she knew was going to be straight ahead of her.

She didn’t have her gloves on to protect her hands from bark, so she would have to improvise since it was both dark and she didn’t have the proper protection. _Ah, fuck it. I’ll figure something out._

She cleared the first training ground in minutes and was immediately relieved when she felt the brush of bamboo against her arms. Training Ground Ten was a blast to run through because of the overall flexibility of the terrain. The grass was soft there and she could feel it through the open toes of her heels.

 _I need to go towards the brighter part of the sky,_ she mentally recalled Saizo’s advice for how to find the streets of Konoha at night. It was thankfully both late and early enough that the street lights hadn’t gone out yet. She listened for the babble of the stream that was nearby, she heard the faint _thok!_ of the bamboo fountain spout and caught the base of the nearest bamboo branch to chain directions. There was a flat boulder at the base of the fountain, and she used that to land on her hands, legs extended out. _1...2...3...go!_ She counted the revolutions and pushed herself off and caught onto another branch to slow her momentum as it bent from her weight.

She took a single step forward before her fight or flight response kicked in. She had almost forgotten that one of the genin teams had set traps there during a training session the other day. Ninja wire was already a bitch to try and see during the day; it was worse even moreso at night.

“Urameshi-san, what’s wrong?” Gai said at their sudden stop.

“There’s some traps here left behind by a genin team. It’s a bit too late to try going the long way around, but I think we should be fine for the most part.” She absently chewed on her thumbnail while she tried to think of something. “Let’s go.”

They took off at slower pace and after some careful maneuvering, they found themselves outside the Training Grounds and at the edge of the streets.

 _Fuck, I’m drunk._ Minami panted as the lights blurred and took a tumble down the wrong alley to a dead end.

“Dead ends aren’t always dead,” she mumbled, remembering another lesson given by Saizo.

Breathing deeply, she surveyed what she could use to get to the rooftops. _Dumpster, fire escape, balcony, fence, okay. I got this._ _Get to the top and we’re home free._

  
  


“Who the _fuck_ keeps a cactus on their balcony?!”

She was home at Naruto’s apartment where Okami had been waiting for her. The ANBU medic clucked his tongue and continued to pull out the spines embedded in her left hand with tweezers.

“Don’t worry, Minami-chan. You’ll live,” he said with what she could _feel_ was a smile behind his mask.

“I hate you,” she deadpanned and slumped against the couch cushions. God, she was so tired after burning through all her energy and she could feel the roiling in her stomach that signified the start of a hangover.

“Mhm, I know. Go wash up now. I’ll leave some antiseptic and bandages for you before I head out.”

Okami was still trying to stifle a laugh that had been threatening to spill out for the past hour. While he was sitting in his customary position outside the apartment building, he had heard something that sounded quite like “MOTHERFUCKER!” screeched out from a distance and wasn’t at all surprised that it was his wayward mission objective.

Minami pouted before hauling herself up from the couch.

“You know, a nice person would find some Ekiyabe to leave behind for me. Especially a nice person who drinks more than I do,” she grumbled.

“Your request has been acknowledged, Minami-chan.” Okami said with a nod and body flickered out of the apartment.

“....smartass.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Tadaima!”

Naruto stepped through the doorway to his apartment and froze in his footsteps.

“Minami-chan…?”

His roommate lay sprawled on her back in the middle of the floor. She was wearing one of his shirts, her breathing was labored and she had a sheen of sweat on her exposed skin. 

“Oi, get up, Minami-chan,” he said and set down his things and kicked the door closed. 

Even the sound of the door slamming shut didn’t rouse her and Naruto felt worry creep into his heart. Kneeling at her side, he lifted her into his arms and his heart began to race when her body remained unresponsive.  

“Minami-chan!” He shook her.

“Na...ru...to...kun?” She mumbled out his name as her head lolled back against his arm. Her eyes opened and her pupils were so dilated that the brown of her eyes were just a thin ring around the black. She lazily lifted a hand to his face and patted his cheek. “Okaeri.”

“I’m taking you to see Baa-chan!” He said and was about to get to his feet to leave, but her fingers pulling on his hair made him look at her again.

“M’okay. Already...saw...Sakura-san...this...morning,” she panted out while forcing her limbs to cooperate with her. She clung to his front like a monkey with her arms wrapped around his shoulders, legs locked around his hips, and head resting on his shoulder. “Just need...some rest.”

“That’s bullshit! There’s no way you’re okay!” He held her close to his own body and fought down the panic that gripped his heart.

“Ne, Naruto-kun, it’s so cold in here,” she said, her voice raspy but more coherent than it was a few minutes ago. 

“This is not the time for sexual harassment, Minami-chan! What’s wrong? What happened to you?!” He asked in a panic and placed his hands under her thighs so she wouldn’t fall. Her skin was burning and he could feel the hot puffs of her breath against his neck as she panted. 

“Fuck!” He swore and ran for his bathroom. He knew some basic First Aid and as much as he wanted to take her to the hospital, he didn’t want to take her there while she was wearing just his shirt. He trusted that Sakura wouldn’t have messed up anything for Minami to be affected like this, so he would at least get her temperature down.

Using a shadow clone to hold her, he stripped down to his boxers and and then ordered the clone to help him run cold water into the bathtub. He hated cold showers as much as the next guy, but this was for important. When the tub was full, he dispelled the clone and picked her up bridal style. He prayed to whatever Kami that was listening that she would forgive him for what he was about to do.

He had started to lower her into the frigid water and flinched when her eyes flew open and she shrieked at the coldness of the temperature. She jerked in his arms, trying to escape as he fully lowered her to the tub floor and got inside with her. He cringed for a moment because it  _ was _ freezing but he had to focus; she was acting like her limbs weren’t working since she sunk beneath the surface and he moved quickly to pull her above it.

“N-Naruto-kun...w-why?” She whimpered pitifully while her body trembled. “I’m...f-fine...I s-swear.”

He shook his head and seated her on his lap. Using his hand, he scooped some water to pour over her face.

“No, you’re not. I have to bring down your fever, Minami-chan. You’re burning up,” he spoke quietly and it honestly hurt him to see her cry and shake like this.

She huffed indignantly and pressed closer to him to try and find any kind of warmth from his now chilled skin. 

  
  
  


He stayed in the tub with her just long enough until she stopped shaking.

They were in his room and he stripped his wet shirt off of her as well as his soaking boxers. Keeping his eyes averted as much as possible, he wiped them both down with some towels before bundling her up underneath his blankets. He was about to find some clothes to wear when she grabbed his hand and weakly pulled him towards the bed.

“Stay with me, please?” She asked softly and lifted the corner of the blanket with her other hand.

“You just want to snuggle naked for once.” He said with a heavy sigh, but he really was tired and could have used a nap.

“Of course I do, but I missed you, you know. And Anko keeps abducting me whenever I’m by myself.” Which was true since the jounin had constantly kept Minami at her side while Naruto had been gone.

“....I don’t even want to know how you know Anko, but fine.”

Getting in bed with her, he grumbled a bit when she got into her usual position on top of him. Wrapping his arms around her, he nudged her forehead with his chin.

“Feel like telling me why I kept you at home instead of taking you to the hospital?”

“....I think I can channel chakra,” she whispered.

He sat up immediately, bringing her up with him.

“What do you mean you think you can--!”

“I wasn’t trying to!” She snapped back at him before burying her face against his chest. “Honestly, I wasn’t. I was just doing some Tai Chi like Gai-san had showed me and during the meditation part I...I just found it?” Minami didn’t know how to explain how she fell into herself poked at a glowing ember within her body that happened to spark to life before flooding her body with endorphins. It still felt like a persistent itch beneath her skin.

“I’m sorry I worried you, Naruto-kun,” she mumbled.

Kami, but she looked so upset with herself that Naruto knew he had to let it go. Actually, he was more surprised that he hadn’t realized it  _ could _ happen. All the exercises and workouts he and his friends had her doing were meant for shinobi, so her chakra points opening up were a definite possibility. And he knew how much she didn’t want to be a ninja because she liked how things already were.

“It’s okay. Just get some sleep and we’ll talk to Baa-chan when we wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is my "I don't know wtf I'm writing" chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

After Tsunade gave her a clean bill of health and the approval that it was okay for her to use chakra, Minami went back to her usual routine consisting of sexually harassing Naruto and training with Lee when he was available.

“Yosh! Urameshi-san, today we will be working on your speed!”

Minami sweat dropped and pouted, “But Lee-sensei! I can barely take a step while in a handstand before I fall on my face!” She’d seen what kind of training he did from her old life.

“Today we won’t be running on our hands! I’ve brought some weights for you,” he said while digging through his pouch for a storage scroll, “and I’ve decided to start you off easy with five pound weights! Then we will run ten laps around the village like always followed by the reviewing the basics of Taijutsu!”

Oh, today was going to hurt like a bitch and she knew it. Which really fucking sucked since she was also scheduled for chakra control training with Iruka-sensei in the afternoon.

“Okay, Lee-sensei!” She said with false enthusiasm and a healthy dose of trepidation.  


 

Yup. She had called it.

After her training with Lee, she was practically crawling back to Naruto’s apartment. She really wanted to shower before she met up with Iruka-sensei at the Ninja Academy because she knew she smelled like a boy’s locker room.

“Tadaima,” she mumbled after unlocking the front door.

She wasn’t expecting Naruto to be home since he most likely had something to do today and she knew he couldn’t spend all his time with her. That was fine with her; it was nice to have some personal time away from other people. That and she had woken him up in the morning with some sleep-groping that had him kissing her senseless so she would release him.

Ooh, but that boy had some skill with his tongue! His training with Jiraiya for those three years had definitely benefited in some way besides his hot body. She sighed dreamily as she scrubbed her skin clean of sweat and absently wondered if they were ever going to get laid. She didn’t particularly mind if they did or didn’t, but the sexual tension was building every day.

 _On the other hand,_ she thought to herself while rinsing off, _Genma sounded interested that one night. I wonder if he has any plans for later this evening?_ She giggled and turned off the water. Not even bothering with a towel, she walked out of the bathroom completely naked and into Naruto’s room.

“What to wear, what to wear?” She said and started pulling clothes from their shared closet.

She decided to go with black leggings and one of Anko’s mesh tops--Anko had donated a considerable amount of her wardrobe to Minami shortly after they went out that one night--along with a navy blue light coat. She had a feeling she’d be out for most of the afternoon to early evening and didn’t want to walk back home in the cold; that wasn’t very fun even if most of the time she didn’t feel the weather because she was usually too drunk to notice.

The best part about drinking with shinobi was being friends with someone who could filter the alcohol from her body when she went overboard; that’s why she had visited Sakura the morning before she discovered her tenketsu points opening.

Stepping into the living room, Minami put on her gloves and found her kunoichi heels that Kurenai had given to her. She added a pouch to her ensemble since her leggings didn’t have any pockets for the apartment keys and headed out to the academy. She gave a lazy salute to the ANBU surveillance team to let them know she’d be leaving.

She had just started her run to the academy when she was joined by Okami, who tapped her shoulder as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop.

“HI MINAMI-CHAN!” He greeted her joyously and she rolled her eyes at him.

“You moron, I can hear you just fine.” She said with a small smile and briefly wondered what his true identity was. She didn’t recognize his voice at all from her memories, but she suspected he was a member of some Clan. During her talks with the previous generation of shinobi, she discovered that quite a bit _didn’t_ happen in this timeline as the Uchiha Clan were alive and well.

“Mou, you’re always so mean to me!” Okami said and she could practically hear the pout in his voice. “I just thought I’d let you know that you’ll be off probation soon, so you’ll have less of us to shadow you.”

Minami skidded to halt before she could jump to the next building. That was news to her; last she had been told was that probation lasted up to six months rather than three. There must have been something going on if the Hokage was recalling her watchers.

“Oh? You’re so quiet all of a sudden, Minami-chan. Are you going to miss me?” Okami asked while leaning in close to her personal space. “Mangūsu will still be on standby if you need anything since Tora and I will be out on border patrol. Ask Iruka-sensei to teach you how to use the Chakra Beacon once you get the basics down. It’ll be your best way to call for help if you’re ever in a dangerous situation.”

She knit her brows in concern. “Is everything alright, Okami-san? I haven’t been in any kind of danger so far and Konoha has been peaceful. Is the village in danger?” She asked.

“Oopsie, I’ve said too much.” Okami gave a girlish giggle that had her cringing before she found herself wrapped up in his arms. His gloved fingers stroked her hair affectionately and she felt him lift his mask just long enough for him to brush his mouth next to her ear. “Tsunade-sama prefers that you know how to defend yourself if we’re not around. You’re still a civilian, but there are eyes on you that are too curious for their own good.”

Her spine stiffened at his words and she tried to turn her head to look at him, but his arms held her in place.

“Ah, ah, none of that. If you saw my face, you’d never give me any peace with your flirty nature and that would be a conflict of interest.” His light tone turned serious and he squeezed her tight for just a moment saying, “Promise me you’ll be careful, Minami-chan. Have someone walk you home every night.”

 _This is really important to him,_ she thought and nodded her head. “I promise, Okami-san. Come back safe, okay?” She clung to him to return his hug, breathing in his scent to remember it since this was the closest she had ever physically been near him. As if on cue, her hormones decided to take over her brain’s primary function of controlling her body.

Before Okami could stop her, she turned her head and locked lips with his and pushed his mask back so she could press her hands to the sides of his face. She kept her eyes closed out of respect for his wishes for his identity to remain secret, but she was going to take full advantage of making out with another shinobi.

What she didn’t see was Okami’s eyes widen and remain open while she kissed him. Black eyes took in her worried expression before softening to return the kiss. Tora could slap him all she wanted for him being late to the meeting point, but this was not an opportunity that one could waste.

 

 

Minami felt like she was flying as she sped through the village, completely unaware of how fast she was going. She may not know his real name, but Okami was way up there on her list of excellent kissers to remember. As she landed to the entrance of the academy, she hugged herself and giggled uncontrollably. Oh, but she _had_ to ask Anko and Kurenai if they knew more about the members in ANBU!

She was so caught up in her daydreaming that she almost didn’t see what was heading straight for her.

“Nee-saaaaaaaaan!”

Konohamaru came flying out the front doors of the Academy, his teammates Udon and Moegi hot on his heels as they barreled right into her.

“Oof!” She grunted when she flew back and landed on her rear.

“Minami-neesan! Is the boss with you? How come you’re here by yourself?” The Honorable Grandson was quick with his questions and didn’t even realize he was still sitting on his friend.

“Guys, please. You’re all really heavy,” Minami said while trying to wiggle out from under them.

At her words, they scrambled to their feet and looked down at her sheepishly. Udon was smart enough to hold out a hand to help her up and she thanked him for it.

“No, Naruto-kun isn’t with me. I’m here to see Iruka-sensei and my escort just left for a mission,” she answered his questions and took a moment to think about her earlier experience. Okami _did_ ask her to look out for herself as much as possible, so asking one of them to hang around wasn’t that bad of an idea.

“Ne, Konohamaru-kun, Udon-san, Moegi-san? Could one of you come by later this evening to walk me home? I’m just gonna be here for a few hours.”

Udon said something about having to help his parents with his younger siblings and Moegi said she still had homework to do, but Konohamaru was more than excited to be “escorting the Boss’ girl” for him.

“Thanks...I think. Alright, I’ll see you later, Konohamaru-kun!”

  


“Ah, Urameshi-san! Tsunade-sama explained to me what happened and that you need some guidance with your chakra control. So let’s start with what you know about chakra and go from there, alright?” Iruka said with a smile at the young woman who was living with one of his favorite former students.

He had heard some...interesting rumors regarding her and some of the other shinobi from his generation. The short of it was that Urameshi Minami was doing some light training in order to keep up with Naruto’s Village Routine and was being trained by Rock Lee as well as an assortment of other jounin who volunteered their time. Therefore, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that her chakra coils and tenketsu points became active once she started meditating under Gai’s tutelage. Teaching her how to use chakra wasn’t considered a problem in the village; most citizens who had Academy training were able to use low levels of it.

“Um, Sakura-san and Kurenai-san explained some of it to me last time I saw them,” she said nervously while Iruka-sensei nodded at her to continue. “It’s made up of two energies: spiritual and physical. Oh. _Oh._ ” It suddenly hit her how the first energy became known to her because she _knew_ that Taijutsu could be performed without chakra since that’s how Lee became a shinobi in the first place.

“I see you figured it out, Urameshi-san.” Iruka was pleased that some of his peers had at least gone over some Chakra Theory with the girl and Gai had mentioned that she was rather observant. “Have you done any more meditation since that first time?”

“Yeah. Shizune-san ran some tests while I meditated at the hospital and she said I was feeling sick before because I wasn’t used to being aware of having chakra. She also gave me a leaf?” Minami knew damn well what the leaf was for, but it would be suspicious of her to automatically know that and Okami _had_ said that she was being watched. Not by who, but she had her own suspicions on that front, alternate universe be damned.

Iruka chuckled and ruffled her hair good naturedly. “We’ll get to that once we’re sure you’ve got the theory down first.” He pulled out a scroll and unraveled it for her. “This is what I use to teach my students so we’ll go over it step by step today.”

Dear God, but she hated studying.

_“Promise me you’ll be careful, Minami-chan.”_

_Goddammit Okami!_ She internally groaned and ran a hand through her hair.

“I’ll do my best, Iruka-sensei,” she said with a rueful smile.

  
  


“MINAMI-CHAN!” Anko stumbled from her seat at the bar to tackle her friend in the doorway. “I haven’t seen you all day!”

Minami felt like her eyes were going to fall out of her head, she was so tired. Out of habit, she went straight to the bar after Konohamaru walked her home. But she needed a drink after all that reading and talking. Iruka-sensei had even given her homework! Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to go back for lessons for at least a few days as he still had to teach his students during the week.

“Sorry, Anko-chan. I had training with Lee this morning that took longer than I thought it would. Then I had lessons from Iruka-sensei. I only just got back--” she paused because of a jaw-cracking yawn,”--back home twenty minutes ago.”

Anko pressed her hands to the sides of Minami’s face and pressed her cheeks roughly. “....the _fuck?_ _Twenty_ minutes? What, did you somehow become a tortoise in the past few days? That’s way slower than normal!”

Minami pushed Anko aside and rubbed at her cheek with her hand. “One word, Anko-chan: weights.”

Her friend frowned while trying to understand what that meant in her drunken state of mind, but when it clicked, she flinched. “Oh Kami. He started you on that today? I do not envy how sore you probably are right now.” Anko said and took her friend’s arm. “Extra shots for you tonight. I’ll bring you home so your surveillance won’t have to stress. Go on now, there’s a good girl. Drink up and forget about the Hell you’re gonna face tomorrow.”

“Is that supposed to be a pep talk? Because you suck at it,” Minami said with a grimace.

“So what did Iruka-kun school you on?”

Minami squinted at that. “Iruka- _kun?_ What the hell did you do to that guy in your Academy days? Actually, don’t tell me. I think my brain is better off not knowing.” She took the bottle that the bartender placed on the bar top and pulled the cork off with her teeth. She and Anko drank there so often that the bartender didn’t bother giving them cups to drink out of. “Anyway, we talked about Chakra Theory for about two and half hours. Ugh! Then he had the nerve to pat my head and gave me a _leaf!_ ”

Anko gave her a grin worth of the Cheshire Cat. “Oh? Good luck finding someone to teach you Chakra Control this week. Uzumaki sucks at chakra control in general. Nai-chan and I have a mission tomorrow and your Taijutsu sensei can’t utilize chakra. At all.” She laughed at the twitch that developed in the younger woman’s eye the more she talked. “You’re basically fucked.”

“You--” Minami lashed out with a half-hearted punch that Anko caught easily.

“What’s this? That actually had some kick to it,” the kunoichi said then released her friend’s hand. “Well, if the kick belonged to a toddler.”

“Tch. Forget drinking, I should just go home.” Minami lost her thirst for sake from her mounting irritation. She dug through her pouch and placed a few bills of ryo on the bartop. “Later, Anko.”

She really needed to hit something.

  


“What I would give for a cell phone,” she mumbled while walking back into Naruto’s apartment. Man, technology seriously sometimes sucked in this world. It was already too late to visit someone and find out if they were free for tomorrow afternoon. Shutting the door behind her, she removed her boots and headed to Naruto’s room, stripping off her clothes as she went. _I’ll put those away later._

She was down to her skivvies when she crawled onto the center of the bed. Whenever Naruto wasn’t home, the whole bed was her side as far as she was concerned.

“Damn it,” she grumbled with her face pressed against a pillow. She was too angry to sleep, eat or study.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there, lying on her stomach angrily and suddenly wishing she had taken at least a sip of sake so it would have lulled her to sleep.

“Oi, Minami-chan, don’t leave your clothes all over the floor!” Naruto snapped from the hallway.

_Oh, wonderful. We’re both in a bad mood. You can sleep on the floor today, Naruto-kun. I’m not giving up the bed tonight._

“Move over, Minami-chan,” Naruto said, not even waiting for her to move before whipping the blanket off of her and flopping down onto the mattress.

“ _You_ move over!” She growled, snatching the blanket from the floor before burritoing it around her body. _What the hell is his problem tonight?_ Personally, she felt only one of them should be in a bad mood around the other. _Asshole._

“Look, I’m not in the mood for your weird sexual advances tonight.” Naruto said, irritation pronounced in his tone.

He had some bad news from Tsunade about the situation at the borders. He was effectively grounded, but still on-call if the situation over there called for him. His anxiety was at an all-time high just waiting for any news of the frontlines. _Even Sasuke-teme got to go._

“Well that’s great, because neither am I!”

Minami felt a pulsing pain in her head and just wanted to sleep at this point.

“What’s _your_ problem?”

“I don’t know, what’s _yours?”_

Neither of them wanted to talk about what was on their minds; Naruto because of classified reasons and Minami because of personal ones.

Naruto did not want to deal with Minami’s bullshit today and tugged at the blanket.

“How about learning to share for once!”

The fist that flew out from under the blanket almost caught him off guard and when he moved to dodge it, she slipped by him and stomped out of the room.

“Oh, look. I shared,” she said coldly. “I’ll take the couch. It’s your room and your bed. Really not worth arguing over.” With a flip of her hair, she picked up her discarded shirt, slipped it on and headed towards the kitchen.

Despite their mild argument being resolved, her overall attitude only incensed his ire.

“Damn it,” he said with a snarl, rolled out of bed and followed after her.

“Minami-chan, I--”

She sat in the lotus position in the middle of the kitchen, her body was utterly still and she was breathing in the way that most who meditate would. But rather than her eyes being closed, they were open and staring blankly at the wall.

“Minami-chan! Minami-chan! MINAMI-CHAN!”

He took her by the shoulders and shook her violently, desperate to have her come to her senses. Being this deep in her own head wasn’t good for her, even if she was using it to calm herself down. There was such a thing as going too far since she could get lost now that her spiritual and physical energies had connected.

“Stubborn woman!” He grabbed her roughly and brought his lips to hers. At first he just wanted to interrupt her breathing pattern, hoping it would bring her back, but as her limbs started to twitch and she started to respond, his mind went to other places.

Minami blinked once. Twice.

_Oh, fuck yes!_

Untangling herself, she threw her body at him, her hands tangling in his hair as they fell to the floor. His hands were on her hips and she felt him effortlessly lift her onto his lap while they kissed almost violently.

His lips trailed kisses down the side of her throat, teeth scraping with just a hint of pain while his hands crept upwards beneath her top to palm her breasts, thumbs rubbing at her suddenly sensitive nipples. Their hips rocked out of sync with each other, but that was okay. They’d find their rhythm in no time.

“N-Naru--mmph!” She squealed when his hands moved again, one palming her through her thin panties and the other grabbing the back of her head so his lips could slant over hers once again.

They broke apart to breathe. His wicked grin and Kyuubi influenced eyes made her heart pound double time.

“Stop talking.”  


	13. Chapter 13

Minami woke up in the wee hours of the morning. She was deliciously sore and pinned to the bed by a completely knocked out Naruto. Thinking about the previous night had her lower half twitching and she suddenly felt flushed with the memories.

_Naruto had taken in her in the kitchen the first time. Over the sink, with her hands pinned behind her back; on top of the table, clawed hands ruthlessly slamming her hips against his. The second time was on her knees with her hair wrapped in his fist, her nails tearing into the couch cushions and she remembered climaxing so hard that her scream of pleasure caught in her throat and her eyes crossed._

_“I’m not done with you yet.”_

She shivered and squeezed her thighs together.

_He had her ride him in the hall, her knees ground down onto the hardwood floor as he egged her on, stopping her right when she was almost--_

_“There! Right there! So close, so close!”_

_He had picked her up, cutting off her climax before pushing her back to the wall. She knew without looking down that she’d have scars in the shape of his claws not just on her hips but on her thighs as well. Kami, he was so rough with her that she was surprised she hadn’t blacked out from the lack of oxygen that couldn’t make it to her brain._

_When she had weakly pleaded for a break, he carried her to the bathroom so they could wash up, but that was pointless in the end. By the time she was finally clean, the next round had started when he went down on her until she was mindless with lust. She remembered how her thighs shook with the tremors of her orgasms and her back arched as far it could go, one hand gripping her breast tight as the other tugged viciously at his hair._

_“I c-can’t...no m-more...NARUTO-KUN!”_

_The lascivious way he licked his lips after had her brain melting._

_By the time they made it to his bed, she felt like she had been bent more times than a pretzel and no longer cared how many times he’d take her as long as he never stopped…_

Minami mewled in distress. Every nerve was firing off and she bit her lip in agony. Hands trembling, she carefully maneuvered herself out from Naruto’s grip and fell to the floor. _Oh my God, my damn legs don’t even work!_

“Ohayo, Minami-chan.” Naruto said sleepily, having awoken from the sound of her body hitting the floor. He lay on his side, elbow pressed into the mattress with his head propped up on his hand.

He had to hand it to her; she was as ravenous in her lust as he was last night. Every time she begged for him to stop, she only clung tighter to him rather than pushing him away.

“Round seven?” He asked half-jokingly.

He watched her mouth drop open in a gasp before closing while she bit her lip and thought about it for a second.

“My legs don’t work,” she said softly, but her hands reached for him nonetheless.

He hauled her back onto the bed and rolled her beneath him.

“That’s okay,” he said, nuzzling her neck, “I’ve got you.”

  
  


Minami was lightly dozing when she felt Naruto leave the bed. He had opened the window and she faintly heard the flapping of wings followed by the window closing. _Time for you to go again, Naruto-kun. Your friends need you._ Mustering up what little energy she had, she opened her eyes and slowly sat up.

Their gazes locked and she nodded in understanding. He still had a job to do and it didn’t involve her. Somehow it didn’t really hurt; as much as she cared for him, the amount of physical intimacy between them didn’t change how they felt about each other.

He knelt on the bed and pressed a kiss to her forehead, making her smile up at him.

“Be careful, Naruto-kun. Come back safe.”

  
  


Lee wasn’t at the training grounds this time. _Not surprising if he got called to head out too._ She would be okay on her own. Sure, she was sore but now that she was more relaxed, she felt as though her focus was more on track than it was the day before. She didn’t even mind walking there with the weights strapped to her wrists and ankles; the ones on her wrists certainly helped cover the contusions left behind by Naruto’s bruising grip from their activities together.

She fought down the urge to giggle and started going through her katas slowly and accurately. She’d risk hurting herself if she tried to make herself move any faster. It was nice moving at her own pace with the additional weight on her limbs; she let her mind clear away the heavy fog that permeated her senses from her heavy lovemaking sessions with Naruto. Shaking her head, she slapped herself and winced from the unintentional force behind it. “None of that now. There’s definitely some kind of fighting going on at the borders.” That and Okami had been concerned for her safety _inside_ the village, so she had to get stronger in her own way.

She practiced until her muscles ached and she felt nauseous. Rolling herself over, she looked for the bag she had brought that had her water bottle and nutrition bars. If Naruto could fuck her seven ways to Sunday and she could still move after, then this was _nothing._ Forcing herself to her feet, she half-considered undoing the weights, but thought better of it. She might as well get used to wearing them all the time until she could move like normal in them. _Lee-sensei will just suggest upgrading them to heavier ones, though_. She shuddered and continued with her goal.

“Baby steps, Minami. Baby steps.”

Steeling her nerves, she ignored the piercing pain in her arms and back when she bent down to open the bag. “If you can breathe, then you’re alive.”

Uncapping the bottle, she sipped slowly and dug around the bag for the nutrition bars. Setting down the bottle, she ripped at the wrapping with her teeth and took a bite.

“If you can eat, then you can move.”

Pulling out a small hand towel, she poured some water onto it to wipe herself down. Today she came to the training ground wearing a sports bra and exercise shorts; she had also swapped out the kunoichi boots for standard ninja sandals. She kept her break to twenty minutes while she evened out her breathing and centered her focus on herself.

“If you can move, you can _fight_!”

This time, instead of moving slowly, she moved with purpose. She faintly remembered that her younger brothers’ Tae Kwon Do Master would explain the martial art to both the students and parents that attended his classes.

_“Relax the body between strikes. Increase the power between strikes while conserving the body’s energy.”_

Going with what she remembered and what she knew now was a lot harder than she had anticipated, but she knew she could accomplish it.

 _“The sine wave technique is a type of wave movement._ _This involves raising one's center of gravity between techniques, then lowering it as the technique is performed, producing the up-and-down movement. If an opponent isn’t familiar with Tae Kwon Do, the movement may benefit you between strikes.”_

She would save that technique for a later date; perhaps after she became more proficient with the Taijutsu that she was being taught.

“Breathe,” she whispered.

Minami _moved._

Currently her eyes were much like how they were the day before, blank and unseeing. She didn’t falter in her movements and whenever she slipped, she adjusted her body’s center of gravity and flowed with the movement.

_It’s just like Running. Or that one song from Mulan 2._

She didn’t have the breath to waste on singing, but she moved her lips to the lyrics.

**_Like a rock, you must be hard_ **

She never noticed the presence of a member of her surveillance team watching from a tree nearby. Sharingan eyes following her every movement while hidden behind a mask.

**_Like an oak, you must stand firm_ **

**_Cut quick, like my blade_ **

**_Think fast, unafraid_ **

Mangūsu had been watching her progress since Day One and her tenacity impressed him. Even he had to admit nearly losing sight of her on the streets when she would spin about between the narrow walls and he had also been there when she went for a run with Gai late that night. Her progress with Taijutsu was a lot less sloppy than he had been expecting, but she was always careful and was quite studious when she wanted to be.

_I wonder…_

He body flickered down from the tree to stop right in front of her, but there was no hesitation in her movements as he deftly avoided her low kick. There was a chance she hadn’t even noticed him yet, so he started projecting Killer Intent to see if her eyes would lose their opaqueness.

He was pleasantly surprised when her body trembled, but her steps didn’t falter. Her eyes locked onto his mask and her stare of indifference settled it for him. His father had been rather distracted lately and maybe taking a disciple would relieve his stress. Then again her overall attitude might just drive his father over the edge even further.

Minami may have been primarily focused on herself, but she wasn’t oblivious. She had felt the change when her fist had hit something solid rather than the air. _ANBU you may be, but if you’re not interrupting my training, you might as well help._

**_Like a cloud_ **

**_You are soft_ **

_Relax...now strike! One...two!_

Her eyes caught the glare of a glint of metal and instead of dodging his punch with the her palm, she skipped back into a one-handed back handspring. She exhaled slowly and considered her options; she had yet to begin training against weapons since technically she didn’t know if she was even allowed to have one. Lee-sensei had mentioned a time or two that eventually she would be ready to practice light weapons training with his teammate Tenten.

**_Like bamboo_ **

**_You'll bend in the wind_ **

Oh, what hell! She was friends with an iryo-nin wasn’t she? She’d survive.

Probably.

Retaking her fighting stance, she nodded once and bit back a scream when Mangūsu aimed a kick at her ribs. _Holy shit, he’s fast! Then again...ANBU aren’t elite ninja for nothing._ _Can’t block it without hurting myself, so let’s try this!_ In her previous life, she had researched a variety of things for writing fanfiction which included martial arts techniques. She couldn’t suitably perform them, but she at least knew the theory, even though she knew this was going to hurt regardless if she did it right.

She had to enter during the exact moment of the attack. _Relax, relax, relax! Wait for it...now!_

**_Creeping slow_ **

**_You're at peace because you know_ **

She stepped into right at the moment she thought the kick would connect and stepped into what she hoped was his blind spot. _It hurts, but I can still move...mostly._

Using the momentum of his attack, she quickly countered with a roundhouse kick to his supporting leg and was momentarily satisfied to both feel and hear it connect. She could do this. Yeah, she’d still get the snot beaten out of her, but she could take on an ANBU Black Ops. who wasn’t actually trying to kill her because she rather be prepared for whatever would come to the village.

**_It’s OK to be afraid._ **

  
  


“Ne, Mangūsu-san…” Minami said while he carried her on his back from the hospital. “My hair hurts,” she whimpered.

She was so right when she knew she’d get the snot beaten out of her. She kept up as best she could until she had a hard time breathing, but that may have been partially due to him steadily raising his Killer Intent throughout their sparring match. He was at least kind enough to carry her and her bag to the hospital where one of the few iryo-nin on staff was pressured to heal up most of her injuries so she could rest at home.

“Hn,” he answered back and Minami rolled her eyes.

Of course.

Of course one of the ANBU Black Ops. from her surveillance team was an Uchiha. Oh, but Naruto was going to get a kick out of this one when he got back. Speaking of.... _No, I can’t ask him that. I can’t ask him who our friends are fighting or if the village will be prone to an attack. It’s not right._

She huffed in annoyance and nudged the back of his neck with her nose.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

_For watching over me and for helping me. Also for not saying anything about the very vocal exercises I had last night._

She didn’t know why, but she could feel him smirk without him even saying anything.

 _Ugh. Uchiha,_ she internally scoffed, _you’re all bastards._


	14. Chapter 14

It had been about a month since Naruto had kissed her goodbye and in that time, Minami had had a variety of different teachers who volunteered their time to train her. Personally, she thought that she was being a suitable distraction for when they’d be called back to fight, but she was nonetheless immensely grateful for their assistance.

Even though she made Genma want to tear his heart out with the shameless use of her ‘feminine wiles.’

Or the time Iruka-sensei said he needed time before he could look at her again after catching her and Kiba in a closet. At the Hokage Tower.

Or the time Anko had to drop her off at the Hospital because of a Midnight Picnic Gone Wrong that involved the Forest of Death, an Aburame, and a shameless abuse of the uses of a Byakugan user.

Or the time she accurately guessed Mangūsu’s identity during one of their weekly spars that ended with the both of them making out in a darkened alley in the Uchiha Clan District.

To be honest, Minami had yet to actually talk to Sasuke one-on-one and now she was fearing that she’d even be able to without blurting “Your brother is an amazing kisser” and embarrassing herself completely. That was nearly as embarrassing as the amount of times she pestered a certain pinkette iryo-nin to filter excess alcohol from her body when she had _no one_ to hang out with some days.

 _“I think I need a new liver,”_ she had said once during one of her many visits that ended with her being nearly slapped through a wall.

_“Oh, when Tsunade-sama asks for an Alcohol Filtering procedure, it’s fine. But when I do it, I’m an irresponsible drunk with no self-control? Rude!”_

Despite her shenanigans, her overall training had been progressing rather well for a civilian. It took her a month to successfully complete both the Leaf Concentration Practice and the Tree Climbing Exercise. It definitely took longer than an average Academy student or Genin, but that was mainly due to her cautiousness in letting herself heal when she injured herself--more like Itachi wouldn’t let her leave the goddamn apartment when he found out she had lightly bruised her hip.

Asshole.  
  


 

“Ohayo, everyone!” She greeted the classroom of the Academy students with a smile.

“Ohayo, Minami-neechan!” Echoed back the gathered students who were awaiting their graduation exams.

Iruka-sensei was still unnerved by the things he had witnessed her doing, but he came around in the end. He invited her to sit in on some of his classes so she could review what she already knew; he had even offered to let her take the Genin exam so she could test herself.

She was wary on that one. While she could and did qualify, she cherished her time in the village and knew she wouldn’t be ready to take the step to join her friends. She had seen how some of the more prodigal students went from graduation to running errands at the border outposts. She was already in over her head with these batch of students since she started to view them as younger siblings.

Her babies.

“Nee-chan, can you show us how to Wall Climb, please?” said little Nara Sayako, one of Shikamaru’s many cousins.

Her heart twisted in her chest at that. The Academy lessons were pushing the students farther along as they were learning techniques that they normally would have learned after being assigned into teams.

“Okay, Sat-chan,” she smiled sadly.

  


Minami sighed as she half-heartedly changed into her training clothes; she was supposed to meet up with Itachi in the next hour, but she honestly wasn’t feeling it today. If she looked at another scroll or thought about channeling any more chakra, she was going to make herself sick with worry. She didn’t even want to eat or sleep anymore because her anxiety kept creeping up on her and gave her nightmares.

“I miss you, Naruto-kun.”

She really just wanted a friend to hold her and let her know everything was going to be okay. And technically, she wasn’t ordered to train everyday, but a part of her felt obligated to use what she was taught rather than letting the knowledge go to waste. Hell, even Tsunade gave her training in what felt like Extreme Dodge-Whatever-I-Throw-at-You; that was one particular memory she _really_ didn’t like looking back on.

_“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!”_

_“Wha--MY EYE!”_

_“DODGE!”_

Tsunade was one scary as heck lady.

She hesitated in pulling on the coat that Anko had gifted her and flopped down onto the couch instead. Her spiritual energies felt all kinds of whack and was screwing with her focus.

“I need a nap,” she mumbled and closed her eyes. Just a twenty minute power nap and she’d be alright again.

 

She didn’t know what it was, but something was tickling her senses. All she remembered from her dream was being in a free-fall that seemed to go on forever while she stared up at the clouds in the sky. Outside of her dreamworld, her instincts were practically screeching for her to get up and defend herself. Without even opening her eyes, she had a kunai in hand and swung her arm out to strike at what was approaching her, when her movement was stopped by a gentle grasp on her wrist.

“Hn.”

_You’ve gotten faster._

“Fuck. I overslept didn’t I?” She asked and opened an eye to see Itachi sitting beside her. Damn. She didn’t even know how long he had been there watching her sleep. What a jerk.

“Why weren’t you there?” He asked, his fingers gripping her chin to turn her face towards his.

“Couldn’t focus today,” Minami said with a shrug, eyes fully open. “I just needed some more rest, I think.”

God, he was gorgeous even when he was displeased with her. He had a stern frown and his Sharingan slowly spinning while he pinned her with his gaze.

_Wait a minute._

“Itachi-kun, don’t you dare.” She warned him as he was, as usual, overly cautious with her health and was probably about to send her back to sleep.

“Hn,” he said with a twitch to his lips.

_I wasn’t doing anything._

She rolled her eyes at him and rolled over onto her side to comfortably face him.

“At least stay with me until morning this time,” she said before grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him down to the couch with her. “And don’t you ‘Hn’ me again. Use your words,” she mumbled into his jounin vest.

“You’re so bossy when you’re tired, you know.” He left her side momentarily to strip off most of his gear. He knew she didn’t like it when her snuggling session was too uncomfortable and would gripe about it endlessly until he gave in.

What he and his cousin saw in this girl would forever puzzle him as they both allowed her to charm the pants off of them. Sometimes literally.

Allegedly literally.

Lying down next to her, her wrapped an arm around her smaller frame.

“What’s wrong now? I thought you seeing Shisui a few days ago would have lifted your mood.”

“Who are we at war with?” She hadn’t wanted to ask for the longest time, but the anxiety was becoming too much. Was this how Naruto felt before he got sent out to help? Probably.

“Iwa,” Itachi said, “There’s a bitter faction that splintered from their village. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of them and they’re determined to invade the village.”

“Ah.” Well no wonder the village was on high alert and sending the lowest rank shinobi out. And why she was being trained so relentlessly. Konoha’s main forces may have stayed in the village, but their power houses were still on the frontlines.

Using two fingers, Itachi poked her on the forehead while she worried herself to pieces.

“Ouch! What was that for?” Minami said while slapping his hand away from her face.

“Hn,” he mumbled and wrapped her up in a bear hug.

_Go to sleep._

“Itachi-kun! Let go--you bastard, you did not go dead weight on me! Move!” Minami snapped while struggling to get out of his hold. “You’re such a brat, I swear,” she grumbled when he kissed her brow before the lazy spinning tomoe of his Sharingan was the last thing she saw.


	15. Chapter 15

“Again.”

_ Boar. Horse. Tiger. _

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!”

A massive fireball was released from Minami and flew high into the sky. From his seated position on the back porch of the Main House of the Uchiha Clan District, Uchiha Fugaku kept a careful eye on the young woman that had men from multiple Clans chasing after her.

Itachi had mentioned that both he and Shisui had taken an interest in her outside of their mission parameters. It was a foolish thing to do; falling for a civilian who refused to join the shinobi ranks, but she certainly had spirit. Her training with the Green Abominations was nothing to scoff at and Fugaku had been updated that she had been steadily upgrading the weights that Rock Lee had started her on. She had even personally gone to see him, the Clan Head, in pursuit of learning Fire Jutsu.

Minami fell to her knees, gasping for air and held up a hand to stop Itachi from  _ briskly walking _ to her aid. “I’m fine. That’s just the biggest one I’ve made so far. I’m fine,” she said and pushed her long bangs from blocking her vision.

_ Shit. Why the hell am I trying to impress his dad again? Oh right. Fun fire jutsu that they normally wouldn’t share with anyone else. Great. _

She shakily got to her feet and pressed her palms together. Breathing deeply, she fell into herself and started regulating her chakra. In her mindscape, she was in her perpetual free fall and every cloud she brushed by was her checking on a tenketsu point.

On the outside, Fugaku watched in fascination as her chakra flickered in and out of visibility at every tenketsu point. Most people outside of the Hyuuga Clan wouldn’t have been able to do this, but he had been notified that Urameshi Minami had a knack for deep meditation techniques that should  _ not _ have been performed by someone so untrained. 

“Chakra...reserves….eighty-five percent…” Minami mumbled and slowly parted her palms. Her chakra flickered white and yellow before she blinked and started to grin. “Itachi-kun!” She giggled with her epiphany and spun on her heel to tackle him with a hug. 

Fugaku sweatdropped and signaled his eldest son that he had his approval to keep training her. He honestly didn’t want to know whatever it was that girl had discovered within herself, but he looked forward to the results when she chose to share it with them.

 

 

Minami spent her day running around the Village in the best mood she’d been in for the past few months. One of the times she had spent lying face-down drunk on Anko’s floor, she wondered if she could recreate techniques she had seen in different manga from her past life. When she had sobered up, she requested access to the Shinobi Archives from Tsunade and was granted it with the promise she would stop feeling up ninja that were on the clock.

_ “Play with your harem when they’re off duty and you can research all you like!” _

When she wasn’t training, she spent her time practically hip-deep in scrolls and books researching the basics of creating jutsu and if she could create fire to spew from her mouth, then she damn well could figure out something to use from that.

And after a couple days of practicing, the fruits of her labor had finally paid off. She couldn’t wait to show Itachi and then brag in his face that he would have to ask her how to even mimic the jutsu she had just made--it would obviously involve tons of snuggle time as bribery. And Naruto would totally flip his shit when he found out; mostly because her elemental type wasn’t the same one he had either.

To be honest, Minami was more shocked that she shared the same elemental affinity as Kakashi and Itachi and it was upon that discovery with Iruka’s help that she started to question how one created a jutsu. Iruka wasn’t hesitant to give her any pointers, but quickly caved when she batted her eyelashes and pressed her chest against his arm.

_ “Oh, no, young lady! I’m not joining your creepy harem! Ask the Hokage for the information you’re looking for!” _

_ My harem is not creepy! _ She almost snapped back at him, but thought better of it since it would just reaffirm his beliefs.  _ Your loss, Iruka-sensei. _ But maybe it was for the best since Itachi perfectly filled the role of the doting guardian; now  _ that _ was almost creepy. Actually, she wondered if Itachi and Iruka were friends since they should have been apart of the same generation of shinobi.

Actually just thinking of which ninja grew up with which was enough to make her break out in hives. What kind of Hell were those days in the Academy?  _ Maybe it’s best not to think about it, _ she told herself while she approached the many administrative departments in the Hokage Tower. She had business to do there and she already had a signed note of approval from Tsunade so she should have little trouble.

Except trouble was kind of her middle name at this point.

“Ko-te-tsu- _ san! _ ” She purred while draping herself over his desk and blocking his view from the paperwork he had been trying to get through.

More than used to her antics, he nonchalantly lifted her arm so he could sign off on something.

“What do you want, Minami-chan?”

She pouted at him and practically crawled onto his lap. “What happened to the days where you would do anything for me without questioning it?”

“They ended after Anko made me babysit you two weeks ago,” he said between clenched teeth. 

“Hn. That’s fair, I suppose. I still don’t remember what happened that night,” she said honestly. “Anyway, I need to reserve Training Ground Twenty-Five indefinitely or until Tsunade-sama revokes her permission.”

“You want...Twenty-Five?” Kotetsu asked slowly.

“Did I stutter?” She asked back with a raised brow.

Okay, so maybe she did know why that would sound like an odd request as it was basically nothing more than a crap ton of rocks, boulders, and severely damaged ground, but it really did fit what she had in mind.

Kotetsu decided it was best if he didn’t know--a common mantra shared among the currently rising amount of male shinobi in her life--and held out his hand for her permission slip. It was fairly standard except for the extra scribbling in the margins.

“ _ Why _ do you need an impenetrable barrier that only you and the Hokage are keyed into?” He asked incredulously. What the hell was she up to now?

“Classified. So do I get it or don’t I?” She said with a grin and watched in amusement as he grudgingly dug out his approval stamp from Kami knew where on his desk. 

“Yeah, yeah. You got it. Be careful out there, okay?” He stamped the form and wrote in the necessary details. He had a feeling that TG 25 was about to become obliterated in the coming days.   
  


 

“Katon: Karyū Endan!” 

The flame that erupted from Minami’s mouth didn’t resemble anything like a dragon, but she knew she the name was a misnomer to begin with. Everyday after she finished assisting Iruka and training either with or without Itachi, she came to her private Training Ground and practiced Fire Jutsu until her lips were seared and her chakra was nearly depleted. It took some bribing (AKA heavy flirting) with a scientist from the Nara Research Labs to gain access to a Healing Balm so her lips wouldn’t crack. 

Her seduction abilities were quickly growing infamous and she used it as often as possible to get her way.

_ If only I could add a Hyuuga… _

After the Incident, Hyuuga Hiashi gave an unofficial order that, in regards to even being seen with Minami, to Flee-On-Sight. Personally, Minami thought he was just being greedy keeping all his smokin hot family members to himself. The man should really learn to share with her sometime.

_ Focus. Again. _

She winced at how her internal trainer’s voice sounded disturbingly like Itachi. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said aloud before going through the hand seals slowly to make sure they were accurate.

_ Ram. Horse. Snake. Dragon. Rat. Ox. Tiger. _

“Katon: Karyū Endan!”

This time, she poured more of her chakra into it and was pleased to see the that it was less orange and more white. 

_ Awesome. _

She plopped down to sit in a cross legged position after the flames dissipated so she could meditate. It helped her focus when her mind started to jump from idea to idea. Once she had this technique mastered, she knew the next step was the Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu) because it would lead up to the jutsu that she had in mind. 

Or at least two of them.

Which was why she spent so much time meditating to find where the limits to her chakra were. It meant harsh training on both her body and her mind, but her determination to complete the techniques she had in mind required a far larger capacity than she had when she originally started training. 

_ Wait a tick.  _

Opening one eye, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the compact mirror she usually stored there for when she would apply the Healing Balm. Flipping it open, she angled it to where she could see her forehead and grinned as an ingenious idea came to her. If the Hokage’s Strength of a Hundred seal was used to store chakra, how useful would it be if it  _ wasn’t _ used for the Creation Rebirth Technique?

_ I’ll ask her about after the war with Iwa ends. She’ll probably punch me through a mountain if I try and do it on my own without her approval. Damn, everything I learn has to be through her approval now too. What the heck? _

As far as she had been told, self-studying wasn’t a problem in the Village, but anytime she had an idea, she had to get the OK from Tsunade before she tried anything. She knew it was for both her own and the Village’s safety, but she couldn’t put her finger on what bothered her so much about it.

“OI! MINAMI-CHAN!” came a distorted voice from outside the training ground.

Minami got to her feet, gathered her things, and stepped out of the protective barrier of the Training Ground.

“Oh, hi Shizune-san,” she greeted in surprise.

“Thank goodness I got to you before you stayed too long in there! Tsunade-sama wants to talk to you about something involving your chakra control.”

“....sure thing, Shizune-san.”

Oh, she was damned suspicious alright. Go figure that one of the things that had been bothering her gets nonchalantly announced by the person she was meaning to talk to about it.

  
  
  


“...tadaima,” Minami mumbled, completely ignoring the shocked faces of the Uchiha Clan members as she stumbled into the Main House like she was always a part of it.

“Ah! Minami-san! What happened to you?!” Uchiha Mikoto dropped the dish she was drying and rushed to her friend.

Minami looked and felt like she lost a fight with an electric socket, which wasn’t too far from the truth after she finished her weekly training with Tsunade, who had damn near beaten her to a pulp before giving her the OK to start storing her chakra away in a seal. Only her seal wasn’t on her forehead, but on her chest above her sternum for specific purposes. It was easily hidden by a scarf that was gifted to her by Kiba before he had left to support the frontlines. 

“Oh...this isn’t Naruto-kun’s apartment. Ne, Mama Mikoto, can I stay the night tonight? I’m...really...tired…” Minami said while her vision began to blur and she tripped over her own feet.

“Of course you can! Here, let me help you,” Mikoto insisted and pulled the younger woman’s arm over her shoulder. “You can rest in Sasuke’s room. I’ll make sure a bath is ready when you wake up again and you can tell me what’s been going on during dinner.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Minami said and dozed off while Mikoto carried her up the stairs.

After a lengthy nap and a hot bath, Minami dug through Sasuke’s closet and pulled on one of his shirts and what looked like shorts from his Genin days. Brushing her hair out, she headed downstairs to the dining room and stretched her arms over her head.

“Mmm...that really hits the spot!” 

“Good evening, Urameshi-san.” Fugaku spoke from his place at the dining table, and raised a cup of tea to her in greeting.

“Ah, Fugaku-san, I told you to call me Minami!” She said with a smile and took the seat across from him.

Uchiha Fugaku was a tough nut to crack, but he genuinely seemed to like her company. Personally, she thought it was because she managed to piss off the Hyuuga Clan, his Clan’s Rival in the Village. 

_ Oh, well. I’ll take my wins where I can get them, I guess. _

“Minami-san, you are being careful with whatever it is you’ve been working on right? Hanoko-chan, who works at the hospital, says that Tsunade-sama has been practically dragging you into the hospital on a daily basis.” Mikoto said with a worried frown while her guest picked at her food.

“Mou...it’s not really classified information,” she caught the gleam of interest in Fugaku’s eyes and continued, “but I’ve been working on some new jutsu that required Tsunade-sama’s approval. It turns out that I need a much larger chakra reserve to use them so…” She gestured to the seal mark of the Strength of Hundred that was printed onto her skin just below her collarbone.

“You certainly don’t do things by half-measures, do you?” Fugaku noted and was pleased that she had at least thought out as much of her goal as possible. He had been one of the few to teach her some more of the  _ advanced _ Uchiha Fire Release techniques while his sons were away. She was an apt student and put everything she had into training to improve herself. 

“Anyone who trains with Maito Gai and Rock Lee for more than a month wouldn’t know any other way,” Minami said with a smile and a click of her chopsticks. 

“So  _ that’s _ where you learned you Taijutsu. I had wondered,” commented Mikoto, who was another person interested in the young woman’s personal growth and development. Although she felt that she needed to be interested since she wondered if the girl even knew that two of the Uchiha’s prodigies were vying for her attention.

Besides her growing Harem of course. 

The Retired Kunoichi Association had a betting pool going on when she’d catch herself a Hyuuga, Flee-on-Sight order be damned.


	16. Chapter 16

“You’re going to the Land of Hot Water.”

Tsunade announced at the end of one of Minami’s chakra control training sessions. She had to get the girl out of the village because her incessant moping was going to halt whatever progress she had made thus far. The Hokage didn’t have the heart to tell her student that the shinobi forces she had previously sent out would be returning soon, but there were still debriefings and a lot of therapy for them to return to and like it or not, Urameshi Minami was still a civilian who didn’t have the ability to handle all of that.

“Okay, Tsunade-sama,” Minami agreed with an empty voice.

It had been four months since she had seen any of her close friends although she had accomplished many of her own goals, depression still crept up on her and her motivation to do anything had started to fade. She needed reminders to eat and even sleeping had become an afterthought. 

Fugaku was the one to voice his concerns over their shared student. As much as he also wanted her to take up the shinobi lifestyle, the choice was still hers to make. She could easily pass the Genin Exams and beyond, but she was very much a people person that required her precious people to be around. It was both a blessing and a liability, so perhaps sending her outside the village would do her some good. She would also have little trouble traveling since Fugaku was personally sending some of his Clan members who remained in the village to escort her there. Even he knew the benefits of a good vacation and just getting away from the stress. 

  
  
  


Uchiha Rikuo, Rikan, and Ryouske were the three brothers that had been chosen by their Clan Head to escort the new unofficial member of their Clan. They found her likeable enough and had seen her in the Clan compound several times during the weeks she began her tutelage under Fugaku.

“Oi, Minami-hime,” said Ryouske, who used the princess title mostly out of respect for the civilian woman, “we’re almost at the Village checkpoint. Do you need any assistance in looking respectable?”

“Tch. You Uchiha have such a way with words,” Minami snapped back from within the carriage. While she couldn’t dress quite as relaxed as she would have back in Konoha, Mikoto did show her how to dress like a Lady of a household. Although what Lady would willingly wear twelve layers of fabric was beyond her as she opted for wearing less than half of those layers. Already she could feel the humidity seeping in through the carriage and the layers of her kimono. 

_ It’s already way too hot, _ she internally groaned and lazily slipped on the final piece, a dark blue haori with the Uchiha fan symbol printed on the back. She didn’t bother to put her arms through the sleeves and opted to just let it hang from her shoulders. She felt the carriage come to a stop and put on the geta that Mikoto had gifted her; it was time to use those lessons she had been taught.

She waited for Rikan and Rukuo to present their travel papers in order to be presented with their visitors’ passes. Ryouske pulled back the screen from the carriage and offered her a hand to help her down from the carriage. She took it and let her professional customer service facade rise to the surface.

“Oho,” Ryouske mumbled in fascination. 

His Clan Head had said that Minami could easily become a force to be reckoned with whenever she applied herself to it and Ryouske could certainly see how. Gone was the rebellious and impulsive flirt that he had gotten to know during their journey to Yugakure; in her replace was a serene and quietly observant woman. Her usually reckless and untamable hair was brushed styled into a low ponytail with wayward strands framing her face that was lightly touched up with make up.

Once on the ground, she clasped her hands in front of her and bowed low from the waist.

“Thank you for allowing us into your beautiful village,” she said quietly and clearly. “I am Urameshi Minami, and these shinobi are my guards from Konoha. I hope we can learn from such a peaceful place during our stay.”

The gatekeepers, who were used to all manners of nobility that passed through their village, responded in kind.

“We hope you enjoy your stay, Urameshi-sama. We are honored to have such a kind and generous guest choose our land for her recuperation.” The older shinobi said with a bow of his own while the younger ninja nodded fervently.

_ Fugaku-oyaji must have spent major money for this trip. I’m definitely gonna have to show him that new technique when I get back as repayment. _

The three Uchiha brothers shared a look and they just knew that Minami would either just roll with it, or become utterly insufferable during the month they were scheduled to stay there for.

Rikuo bonked the back of Minami’s head as they entered the village.

“Don’t get a swelled head, Minami-hime.”

“Ouch! I know that, Rikuo-kun!” She half-heartedly punched him on the shoulder and didn’t see his eyes widen when he stumbled back from the force of it. “I won’t take advantage of their obligated kindness, but it would be rude not to accept it either.” 

_ She’s strong, _ Rikuo signed to Rikan behind Minami’s back.

_ She did learn Taijutsu under Maito Gai and Rock Lee according to Fugaku-sama, _ Rikan signed back.

“Ooh, sweet buns!” Minami flailed her arms as they passed by a bakery and the three Uchiha brothers caught a glimpse of something on her wrists that was previously hidden by her sleeves.

“Uh, Minami-hime?” Ryouske steered her back towards the path they were meant to take to the assigned Inn. “By any chance, are you wearing weights on you?”

“Eh?” Minami slipped out of Ryouske’s hold and tapped at her sleeves while gesturing at her feet. “Of course I am. Gai-sensei upgraded me to thirteen kilogram (30 lbs) weights in a message I got from him before we left Konoha. Just because he isn’t here to teach me doesn’t mean I should slack off his teachings. I still have to practice the B-rank ninjutsu that Fugaku-oyaji taught me even though I’m on vacation.” 

Rikan chuckled and threw an arm around her shoulders. 

“We’ll make an Uchiha out of you yet with that kind of attitude, Minami-hime!”

Minami visibly shuddered at all that could possibly imply. She’d rather be adopted into the clan rather than marry one of them. Although at the rate she was going, she had a feeling she would marry into one of the Major Clans in Konoha. Tsume-sama had already reserved a seat at her table after her adventures with Kiba in multiple broom closets around the Hokage Tower; one of which the Kiba matriarch herself had found them in. 

“Let’s just get to the Inn. I could use a nap,” Minami grumbled. 

  
  


 

Yukatas were Kami’s gift to mankind.

Minami felt so much better wearing one compared to the heavy kimono that she had arrived in. The steam that permeated the village was a little hard to bear, but wearing something much thinner helped alleviate some of the humidity. And now that she had the privacy of her own suite--the brothers were staying in a room next door--she could appear any way she wished. Here elegantly brushed and styled hair was now in a lazy bun atop her head while she lazed about on her futon with various scrolls opened up around her. Tsunade would punch her through a mountain if she knew that Minami wasn’t actually relaxing like she was instructed to do, but honestly Minami didn’t know what else she could do. She had gotten back to a healthier eating and sleeping routine, but her mind was still restless with anxiety.

Lately, she had been working on creating chakra strings much like the puppeteers of Suna used. She wasn’t really sure where she was going with it, but so far it had been amusing to watch inanimate objects like shuriken and kunai dance around the room. She’d have to share the scroll with Tenten when she saw her next as the weapons mistress could certainly apply it to a combative strategy.

She twitched her fingers and smiled at the way sparks would fly when shuriken crossed paths with one another. She didn’t even notice when the three brothers stormed the room looking for the source of the trouble they thought they had heard from within.

Rikan turned bright red upon noticing Minami’s rather haphazard state of undress with her male styled yukata. Her chest was bound to prevent them from seeing anything too inappropriate, but one sleeve hung off a shoulder and it seemed that the sash used to keep the yukata closed.

“Yo,” she said with a flirtatious smile that had both Rikan and Rikuo gulping unexpectedly.

Ryouske was less affected than his brothers, but just barely. Clenching his fists, he strode into the room and grabbed her hand, breaking her concentration on the chakra strings so that the weapons fell harmlessly to the ground.

“You are a bad girl! Your orders were to rest and relax without adding in your training! Fugaku-sama might have ordered you to continue what he has taught you, but your orders come from the Hokage herself! Why can’t you just do as you’re told?” He said sternly and lightly shook her.

Minami kept her gaze on the floor, shame etched into her features. She  _ knew _ how worried her friends were. She  _ knew _ how much Fugaku wanted her to succeed, but not with any damage to herself. It’s why she was sent here in the first place after all. Naruto would be disappointed in her if he saw how she was behaving and that stung the worst.

“I miss my friends,” she whispered as her sighted blurred with tears she hadn’t shed since all her good friends were sent to the frontlines. 

_ I miss Naruto’s touch and snuggling up to Anko at the bar. I miss training with Gai and Lee until I can barely crawl back home. I miss helping Saizo-kun’s parents at their shop and delivering packages to the other citizens. I miss studying with Iruka and drinking with Genma. I miss eating dinner with Chouza and Shikaku and arguing with Ino and her dad. _

“Stupid girl,” Ryouske growled and pulled her in for a hug. 

He knew her type well as he’d seen it with a few shinobi who couldn’t survive without the physical affection of their friends. Yes, it was a huge liability in the giant scope of the shinobi lifestyle, but it was also a solid foundation of inner strength that was unofficially important to Konoha’s pride in teamwork. 

He let her cry her heart out against his chest and wondered if her loneliness was what drew so many of Konoha’s shinobi to her. And Kami, she really was lonely without understanding that she was the foundation of the shinobi she surrounded herself with. She was what many of them came ‘home’ to after a long mission or a hard day’s work. 

“Hush now, Minami-hime,” Rikan said and took her from his older brother’s arms. “We’re not just here to protect you, but to help you. I thought we were friends now, ne?”

“Stupid...Uchiha,” she sobbed and wiped at her eyes with her sleeves. “Why can’t Itachi be as nice as you?”

Rikuo cleared his throat, not at all willing to know what her relations were with his cousin.

“Why don’t we check out the onsen? Our suite came with a private one, you know?”

Minami sniffled and felt a smirk curl her lips.

“Sounds like someone wants a private show ne, Rikuo-kun?” She said with a wink and stifled a laugh when he sputtered out a denial. “Calm down. I’m gonna go bathe first so we can really enjoy the springs. And besides, you and Rikan-kun are too young for me. Ryouske-kun on the other hand…”

The eldest of the Uchiha brothers sighed in defeat.

“I’ll wash your back if you wash mine?”

“Nii-san!” The younger brothers exclaimed in shock.

“Exactly, Ryouske-kun.”

  
  


“You’re...a demon,” grunted Ryouske as he sank down into the hot springs while Minami stepped into it with a towel on.

“So I’ve been told,” she grinned at him and hissed slightly at the heat of the water before her body adjusted to the temperature.

“It’s no wonder you’ve ensnared the souls of the other shinobi. Once you get your hands on them, there’s no escape.” Ryouske let the hot spring melt away the aches in his muscles and the sudden weakness in his knees. “How the hell can you still have so much energy?”

Floating over a boulder in the center of the spring, she leaned over it and rested her head on her hands. 

“You try sleeping with a Jinchuuriki and see how fast your own stamina builds up,” she said slyly.

“That’s more than I ever wanted to know about Naruto!” Came the distressed cry from the neighboring spring where Rikuo and Rikan were trying to relax.

“And that’s more than enough from the peanut gallery, thank you very much!” Minami yelled back and lay her cheek on the boulder. She hadn't felt this good in weeks and it was a really nice feeling.


	17. Chapter 17

It had been a few weeks since Itachi and Sasuke returned to the village and finished their mandatory psych evals at T&I. Recently, Naruto had been coming over more often than not since upon their return, his roommate was nowhere to be found. Tsunade had told them about the ordered vacation, which only caused the blond Jinchuuriki to worry even more despite the reassurances from Fugaku who had been the one to choose her destination.

“Oi, Dobe. If you’re going to lay down over here, at least use the couch.” Sasuke said and used his foot to nudge his depressed teammate who was sprawled on the living room floor. 

Naruto just heaved a deep sigh and crawled onto the couch. He rolled over onto his side and used Itachi’s thigh as a pillow.

“Teme, I know you said your cousins are with her, but this is Minami-chan we’re talking about. Assuming they’re not already wrapped around her little finger, she could have become a monster while she was away.”

“Naruto-kun, isn’t that rather harsh to say? She’s your friend after all,” Itachi commented and patted the young man on the arm.

“I mean ‘monster’ in the nicest way possible. For all we know, she’s probably enslaved most of Yugakure using her feminine wiles.” Naruto grumbled from his position and Itachi let out a small cough to disguise his amusement. 

The three of them stilled at the sound of rapid footsteps approaching the Main House front doors before said doors were unceremoniously kicked open.

“FUGAKU-OYAJI! MIKOTO-KAACHAN! TADAIMA!”

Both Fugaku and Mikoto shared a look from the coffee table before leaning towards the voice’s direction.

“Okaeri, Minami-san.”

Raucous laughter echoed from the front entrance and the footsteps approached the living room. 

“Ne, pay up Ryouske-kun. I beat you here just like I said I would!” Minami said as she rounded the corner of the hallway and dropped her travel bag on the floor. “Yo,” she said with a grin.

Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi, Sasuke, and Naruto took one look at her before their jaws dropped. She looked like she had just come from a war zone! What looked like a bright red furisode was muddy and torn in places. The sleeves looked heavily singed and Minami had a myriad of bandages from her neck, hands, and around her head. Rikuo, Rikan, and Ryouske followed from behind her and each were carrying large storage scrolls.

“Minami-san, are you alright?” Mikoto quickly rose from her seated position to bring the younger woman further into the room and sat her down by the table. “What happened to you? You were supposed to be on vacation and relaxing!”

“Maa, I’m fine, Mikoto-okan. Yugakure just had some trouble with an army of mercenaries who picked a fight with the local Yakuza. We just happened to be passing through when the two clashed; it was just a bad case of wrong place wrong time.” She said while letting Mikoto fret over her still-healing injuries.

Naruto made a sound reminiscent of a muffled screaming cat, to which Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Only you, Minami-san. Only you.”

Sasuke looked at his father, who was having the exact reaction as his brother and stared at the young woman he had only met a handful of times.

“I hope you filled out a report for the Hokage about what happened. Also, what’s with the storage scrolls? Rikan?”

Rikan groaned as if in pain.

“My scroll has the bounties for the mercenaries that were arrested. Rikuo has the certificate of dual citizenship for her, and Nii-san has the official certificate of Honorary First Daughter of Minamichi Houou, the Head of the ruling Yakuza Family of Yugakure.” 

As he rattled off the list of what each scroll contained, the eyes of his family grew wider and wider and even Naruto was stunned speechless.

Minami flippantly waved off their shocked expressions and sat down next to Fugaku.

“Yo, Oyaji. Thanks so much for the vacation!”

“Ah,” Fugaku was still trying to rapidly process just what one of his nephews told him and cleared his throat. “You’re welcome, Minami-san.”

“And to thank you, you get to see the A-rank ninjutsu that I used to secure us a victory over the mercenaries!”

“But Minami-chan, your injuries…” said Mikoto worriedly.

“Just a scratch, Mikoto-kaachan. I burned through my normal chakra reserves on the way here, so now would be the best time to show everyone. To Training Ground Twenty-Five! Itachi-kun, carry me!” She exclaimed proudly before pouncing on one of her favorite Uchiha.

He caught her easily and stopped her wandering hands from copping a feel in front of his family. 

“Sasuke, Naruto-kun, do you mind getting a message to the Hokage? I’m sure she’d want to view Minami-san’s finished ninjutsu.”  
  
  


 

“URAMESHI-SAN!”

“GAI-SENSEI!”

"MINAMI-SAN!"

"LEE-SENSEI!"

Kakashi stood several feet away from the steadily growing dogpile of shinobi (plus one civilian) at the entrance to to TG 25. Not thirty minutes ago, one of Naruto’s shadow clones had interrupted a meeting between the Hokage and several jounin to announce that Minami had wanted to share her technique with the Hokage. Not to mention the additional treasures that Minami had returned with.

“Anko-chan! Not in front of the kids, please!” Minami giggled when her the purple haired kunoichi tried to check her injuries--more like feel her up--in front of those present. “The sooner we do this, the sooner Tsunade-sama can drag me to the hospital for a full work up.”

“Damn right, brat.” Tsunade said and shooed them all away from her student.

When the gathered shinobi entered the barrier--Tsunade had it adjusted for them to all be able to enter--they stayed close the edges of the barrier as Minami instructed. Naruto, Itachi and Shisui stayed just a few feet behind Minami out of concern for her, while Sasuke decided to hang back and observe with his teacher.

“Just give me one moment,” Minami said as she shrugged out of the sleeves of her furisode to reveal the mesh armor shirt she wore beneath and freed her arms. Placing her hands together in the release hand sign, her hands glowed briefly. “Seal Release: Strength of a Hundred!” 

_ What the hell have you created, Tsunade-sama? _ thought Kakashi as the seal marks grew down the woman’s arms and up to her forehead. He pulled up his hitai-ate upon noticing the other Uchiha had also activated their Sharingan. Minami’s hands moved quickly and it was Ryouske who narrated what was going on for them.

“This was how she settled the matter with the mercenaries after convincing the Yakuza to pull back and let us take care of it.”

“Katon: Karyū no Hōkō!” Using her hands as a funnel for the flame, Minami exhaled a blazing inferno that covered the area in front of her; it was even strong enough to rattle the barrier.

“Ouch,” she whined while shaking her hands from the almost unbearable heat. Looking over her shoulder, she shrugged at the worried expressions her friends were giving her. “It’s a little hard to control since it’s not exactly my elemental affinity, but not to worry!” Her calm smile creased further into a manic grin, “This next one actually is.”

She breathed deeply as though to center herself for what she was about to do next. Truth be told, she had only used it once before her vacation so it was a good thing Tsunade was on standby.

As she flowed through the handsigns and inhaled, the gathered ninja could hear the faint crackling of electricity as Minami turned her head to the side. At the last hand sign, she exhaled and white lightning erupted from her mouth at a greater scale than the fire had.

“Raiton:  Rairyū no Hōkō!”

Tsunade stood stunned as her third most promising student expelled thousands of volts of lightning from her mouth and it was like watching a contained electric storm dance in front of their eyes.

_ Holy shit. _ Was the collective thoughts of those around her before Gai swept her up in a bone-crushing embrace.

“Urameshi-san, what a stunning technique! I’m so proud of your hard work!” 

“Oof! Thank you, Gai-sensei.” Minami blinked the dark spots from her vision and stumbled when he released her. An intense feeling of vertigo hit her and she fell back onto her rear. 

“Minami-chan!” Naruto rushed to help her, but was pushed aside by Tsunade, who promptly threw the younger woman over her shoulder.

“Demonstration time is over. My patient needs me and I’ll alert you when she’s stable again.” Tsunade could feel the aftershocks of Minami’s muscles spasming and tightened her hold. 

_ You foolish girl. _


	18. Chapter 18

“I’m starting to think that any time I let you out of my sight, you purposely get yourself into an unthinkable amount of trouble,” Tsunade said with a sigh before taking a seat on the hospital bed.

Her unruly patient rolled her eyes and patted the Hokage’s hand with her own.

“Uchiha Rikan gave me the report on your latest misadventures, so we have a lot to discuss.”

“I know,” whispered Minami as her voice was rather hoarse.

“On top of the amount of bounties you’ve collected, you’re also considered Yakuza now. With as much money as you’ve just made, I’ve gone ahead and put in the paperwork to establish you as your own Clan; you’re already allied with the Uchiha and Inuzuka Clans so you’ll be protected from the Council for the most part. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the Clan Restoration Act since you’ve mentioned before that you are interested in having children once you’ve settled down.”

Minami nodded her head in agreement. She had already planned to apply for Clan Establishment after Ryouske told her just how much money she would now have rolling in. Yugakure wasn’t the only village willing to pay her for the bounties as each bounty was designated by what village/country the mercenary originated from. Fortunately for her, the Council from Yugakure were generous enough to catalogue the mercenaries’ information, so she would be expecting payments from multiple villages across the Elemental Nations.

That and Minamichi Houou didn’t want his Honorary First Daughter to leave empty handed either; they had exchanged sake cups of loyalty after all. He gave her the finest dresses he could offer as well as a couple million ryo “in case she needed anything else”. His underlings had even referred to her as “Ojou-sama” or “Minami-hime” during her short stay at their compound. She actually quite liked Houou since his looks and charisma were on par with Sinbad from the Magi series. If he wasn’t so involved with his wife, she doubted she’d turn down an offer to take a tumble into his bed with him. Or his sons. 

His sons were  _ really _ hot.

Like Sesshomaru from Inuyasha and Yoko Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho levels of hot.

“Why are you drooling? Did they overdo the dosage on the painkillers again?” Tsunade checked Minami’s medical charts while her crush-induced student lay back on her hospital bed with hearts dancing around in her eyes.

“It’s nothing,” Minami mumbled dreamily. “Now tell me what I have to do and where to sign.”

 

 

“Ne Sasuke-kun? If you’re just going to stand there and stare like a creeper, then at least try and be useful,” Minami teased from her seated position on the Uchiha Main House back porch. 

“Why are you always at my house?”

They both knew it was a rhetorical question as it was his father who had granted her the deed to a section of land located just north of the Hyuuga Clan Compound. He had swiped the ridiculously good deal ten years prior and loved to subtly rub it in Hyuuga Hiashi’s face during Clan Council Meetings. Sasuke and Minami both knew that besides the love for his village and clan, Uchiha Fugaku was driven by spite.

“Renovations aren’t done yet and the Hyuuga has barred me from giving them ‘suggestions’,” she said with a lewd giggle that had Sasuke shuddering.

“...anyway, Aniki isn’t here if that’s who you were looking for. Also, what’s with the blindfold?”

He had wondered about that when he had stepped onto the porch. She was sitting quietly with a blindfold covering her eyes, her face tilted up towards the sunlight. Her superficial injuries from a week ago had been mostly healed; the Hokage said the damage was to her internal system what with chakra stress and playing with lightning. Speaking of which…

He could see faint sparks of chakra leaping from palm to palm on her open hands. Her hair still looked as frazzled as though she had been playing with an electric socket and watching her do whatever it was she was doing, the analogy wasn’t far off.

“Training. If my sight ever becomes incapacitated, I’d like to know that I can still rely on my other senses. Like here,” she lifted one hand higher than the other to show him the miniature crackles of lightning, “I don’t have to look to know that I can control this much of my elemental affinity. You should try it sometime; your Kekkei Genkai is heavily reliant on your eyes right? How many kinds of jutsu are you able to perform without the Sharingan?” 

“Hn.”

_ I see your point. _

“Come sit across from me. You don’t have to use a blindfold if you don’t want to, but at least keep your eyes closed and your hands out. We’ll play a light game of Catch.” 

Minami knew he’d listen as the current Sasuke was highly interested in improving himself to become stronger with his own power. She heard the creak of the hardwood as he sat directly across from her. Smiling, she reached out and lightly touched his forearms to feel her way down to his hands. 

_ My, but Sasuke had some strong arms _ , she thought to herself until her hand settled over his, palm to palm.

“This shouldn’t hurt since we’re both the same affinity, but it might tingle a little,” she said and concentrated her chakra into their joined hands.

Sasuke let out a hiss at the sensation, but she had warned him that it wouldn’t hurt. Still it was a literal shock and he knew he should have expected it. It was...nice. He could feel the difference in her chakra compared to his as hers was much more turbulent and actually kind of playful? It didn’t feel nearly as violent as when he used Chidori, but he could feel the potential thrumming through it.

“You got it?” She asked him and he was momentarily surprised at the tentative trust in her tone. In all honesty, the two of them didn’t know each other very well as their past interactions had been brief. They had never actually talked one-on-one before and it was actually pretty pleasant.

“Yeah,” he replied back and pulled his hand away, fascinated by the arc of electricity flowing from her hand into his. 

“Close your hand slowly and try not to crush it. Imagine it like a hummingbird. Feel that rapid pulse?” She instructed. “Keep it alive with your own chakra. Once you’ve got it stabilized, either make the cluster you have bigger or smaller. It’s your choice.”

It did feel alive in his hand; that thrumming of energy could easily be compared to the frantic flapping of a hummingbird’s wings. From what he remembered, hummingbirds needed to constantly replenish themselves to continue flying the way they did, so he fed more of his chakra into it. The ‘bird’ in his hand started to chirp and he knew that if it got any louder, this lesson could potentially become dangerous. Refocusing his attention, he eased off the flow of his chakra until the chirping became the faint crackle he had heard before. 

“Ready?” She asked and he opened an eye to see her hands waiting to catch his ball of lightning.

“Hn,” he said and gave it a light toss like she instructed.

She reached out to catch it gently before she scooted further back on the porch.

“I’m still sitting across from you, but I’m just a little bit farther away. Assuming your eyes are still closed, either listen or feel for it while it approaches you to determine its distance. When you catch it, tell me if anything feels different, okay?”

_ She’d make a good teacher, _ he mentally noted.

“Got it. I’m ready.” 

She counted to three and threw it back towards him. Since she couldn’t see, she aimed at the feel of his chakra since his was as active as hers for the moment.

Sasuke did as he was told, snatching it out of the air and he stilled when it reacted to his chakra. The playful nature was gone and in its place was something more wild and barely controlled. It felt similar to the first time he started practicing to use Chidori when he was still a genin.

“You made it stronger and it’s almost like I can channel it into something more,” he said and opened his eyes at the sound of fabric being removed.

Minami had removed her blindfold and was standing with a proud, yet manic, grin on her face. 

“Exactly, Sasuke-kun. Come with me to TG 25 and I’ll show you how it can do so much more.”

“Show me.”

  
  
  


The two of them lay side by side on the ravaged training ground, exhausted yet smiling. The adrenaline of what they had accomplished was just tapering off, but neither had felt so motivated and alive before.

“You’re brilliant, Minami-san.” Sasuke said with a genuine smile and rolled over to get to his feet. 

They had spent hours at the training ground, brainstorming and testing out their shared ideas. Both were far too stubborn to actually research just  _ what _ they did, but the results were more than satisfying. Sasuke had to get his sensei’s opinion on this as he also had a lightning affinity and the three of them could probably do a lot more in terms of jutsu and teamwork.

“Don’t go feeding my ego, Sasuke-kun. I just had a lot of time on my hands while you and the others were gone. It was either create something or go crazy from the boredom,” she said and wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Chichi-ue said you did go crazy in the end. You were working yourself into an early grave without any of your usual aides around to help ground you. That’s why the Hokage ordered you to take the vacation and why Chichi-ue paid for it. They didn’t want your potential to stop growing just because you forgot how to take care of yourself.” 

“Tch. You Uchiha,” she grumbled, “too insightful for your own good sometimes.”

In all honesty, she was humbled by how much they all cared for her. A tiny part of her still thought there was some kind of ulterior motive--she couldn’t  _ not _ be suspicious as deception was part of being a ninja--but the majority felt genuine. 

“Our eyes aren’t all we’re good for, you know,” he chuckled and grabbed her arm to haul her up. “Haha-ue will be angry with us if we show up late for dinner looking like we do.” 

“True. She carried me to the bath once and dumped me in your room last time I did that.” 

“You’re the one stealing my shirts!”

“You say stealing, I say borrowing. Now shut up and carry me back home.”

“Do I look like Aniki to you?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“...get on,” he mumbled and knelt so she could climb onto his back. 

“Good boy,” she nuzzled the back of his neck with her nose just to tease him. It was a sensitive spot for his brother and she was pleased to see it had the same effect on him as well. She felt him shudder before his hands gripped the back of her thighs and they took off.

_ Naruto was right. She is a monster. _

  
  


“Sasuke-kun, I’m borrowing one of your shirts!”

He couldn’t even look at her.

_ He had just started rinsing his body when she had kicked open the door wearing a towel and announced that it would be more productive if they bathed together. He had loudly protested, but accepted his defeat when she didn’t even bother to look at his body while she washed herself clean.  _

_ Was this the cruel fate that awaited all the men that fell under her thrall? She already had his brother and four of his cousins wrapped around her little finger and rumor had it that there were more men from different clans. He recalled his mother joking about a harem, but what if she was serious? _

“Whatever,” he grunted and pulled on his own clothes. He would just have her buy more for him now that she was apparently loaded with money. 

He didn’t even hear her move but felt her arms wrap around him from behind and the dampness of her hair while she leaned against his back.

“Don’t be like that. Blame Itachi for being paranoid and locking up his door and windows with traps.” Minami groused and breathed in Sasuke’s scent. 

_ Ooh man, but there’s gotta be at least a couple dozen fangirls screaming with rage right about now. _

“Aniki appreciates his privacy,” he said but his lips twitched into a faint smile. 

He had tried to break into his older brother’s room more than once in his youth and recalled the traps he had run into before. His brother really was an imaginative sadist when he wanted to be.

“Tch,” she gently squeezed his side before pulling on his shirt. “Let’s go see what your mom made for dinner.”

She stepped away from him and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail that she tied off with some wire she found in his room. Sasuke watched her walk out of his room and down the hall, his eyes fixed on how much she looked like she could be a part of his family; she dressed like them often enough. Chichi-ue had plans of her marrying into the family and even if she didn’t, she was already an honorary Uchiha just for pissing off the Hyuuga.

There were rumors floating around about something called The Incident that had both the Hyuuga and Aburame avoiding her at all costs. He definitely had to get the story out of her about that one.

For research purposes of course.

“Oh, Minami-san? How did today’s training go?”

Sasuke heard his mother say.

“Figured out a bunch of stuff and got some ideas for new stuff. Also the Hyuuga actually cover their eyes when I walk by.”

It was the first time in a long while that Sasuke heard his father laugh so freely and heartily.

“Fugaku!”

Mikoto scolded him, which only made him laugh that much harder. Sasuke felt like he must have entered an alternate universe where his dad sounded more and more like a regular father figure.

“Sasuke-kun!” He heard Minami shout, “Hurry up or Itachi-kun and I will eat all the tomatoes!”

How the hell did she know that was one of his favorite foods?

He ran down the stairs and skid to a stop at the bottom of the landing to see Minami feeding his brother a slice of tomato.

“You Devil,” he stated before briskly walking to the table to pick up his own chopsticks to eat.

“Maa...what did I see about feeding my ego, Sasuke-kun?” Minami clicked her chopsticks at him.

“Enough playing all of you,” Fugaku ordered, back to his usual stoic self.

Minami knew just what to see to have the old man relax again.

“Sasuke-kun and I can pass lightning back and forth to each other.”

Right after he had taken a bite of food.

“That’s--” he had to pause to cough a bit to clear his mouth, “--wonderful news, Minami-san. I assume the two of you have ideas for new jutsu with this ability.”

“Of course we do, Fugaku-oyaji! I think I’ll need a wider range of training ground for something else I have in mind.”

“I’ll see what I can do about--”

“Thank you, Fugaku-oyaji!” Minami launched herself from her chair and grabbed him in a hug. He didn’t bother struggling to escape her hold and merely patted her on the head.

“Be sure to show me once you’ve completed it.”

“Of course!”

Dinner became a rather normal affair if one ignored the battle of chopsticks over the slowly cooling food. Fugaku and Mikoto merely ignored the younger children’s antics and kept eating. It was nice to have the family together for a meal as it didn’t happen very often. Their household had been rather lively as of late, and it was a nice change.

“Whew! I’m stuffed! Thank you for dinner, Mikoto-kaachan!” Minami left her seat and stretched her arms above her head. “I’ll be in the rock garden before I head to bed.”

This was another routine the Uchiha household became used to witnessing. Minami always did Tai Chi after dinner for at least an hour before she felt relaxed enough to sleep.

“Let’s go, Sasuke-kun,” she said while grabbing the collar of his shirt and dragging him out with her.

Sasuke let out a sigh of suffering and glared at his brother; if Itachi was around more often, Minami would have latched onto him instead.

“Don’t make that face; this is good for both of us if you’re going to keep working with me.”

“...yes, sensei.”

“Don’t call me that! If anything, I’m your senpai! Call me senpai!” 

“Are we doing this or what?”

“Itachi-kun,” Minami whined, “tell him to call me senpai!”

Itachi’s response was to calmly leave the table to flick them both on the forehead.

“Aniki!”

“Itachi-kun!”

  
  
  


“Itachi-kun, you left your door locked! Where am I supposed to sleep now?”

Sasuke pressed both of his pillows over his ears to drown out Minami’s whining. He knew his brother could easily let her into his room, but this was a special kind of suffering since he ignored his brother’s orders out in the field and this was his punishment.

He heard the soft footsteps towards his room and briefly contemplated getting up to lock the door when he remembered Naruto’s words when they had a brief respite while out on the front lines.

_ “She’s ridiculously lewd, Sasuke. She’s worse than sensei because at least sensei only reads porn in public. She’ll try to convince you to bathe with her and then if you let her into your bed, she’ll hog the covers. And that’s only the first step before she curses your libido.” _

_ He had stared at his blond teammate for a solid minute before shaking his head. _

_ “Just because you found a girl who can keep up with your sex drive doesn’t make her some kind of succubus, Naruto.” _

_ “That’s what she is though! She’s already gotten to Genma, Kotetsu, Kiba, your brother, Shisui, and who knows how many more of us! You gotta protect yourself, teme!” _

_ Sasuke thought it had to be a serious case of cabin fever if Naruto was this worked up. _

_ “She’s just a civilian, dobe. What’s the worst she can do?” _

“Ne, Sasuke-kun? Can I sleep with you tonight?”

_ Fuck. _

She was already inside his room wearing what looked like  _ just _ his shirt from earlier and had a pillow under her arm. While she was attractive, her allure wasn’t as overwhelming as Naruto was trying to make her seem.

He grit his teeth and lifted a corner of his blanket.

“If you kick me, you’re sleeping on the floor--Hey!”

Minami dove right in and right on top of him, her legs already tangling with his and her arms loosely wrapped around his neck.

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun!”

“...please get off of me.”

He felt her lips wander from the side of his neck up to his ear. 

“But Sasuke-kun,” her voice had become breathier and she moved her thigh over his hip to settle herself in comfortably. “I thought we had bonded so well over training? How else is my chakra supposed to recognize yours when we work together?”

“....fine. Just stop talking and go to sleep.”

“M’kay.”

Sasuke lay awake for some time while he heard her breathing deepen and she drifted off to sleep. He wasn’t exactly uncomfortable having her sleep on top of him, but it really was just a different experience. Back when he was a genin, it made him really uncomfortable the way his female classmates would cling to him and try to get his attention. The woman snuggling into his chest didn’t try, she would just be in his personal space and  _ made  _ him pay attention to her. Sure, the past few days had been annoying in the beginning, but he could see what it was that drew people to her. If she had been a genin during the time he had been at the Academy, she would have ranked right up there with him, Shikamaru, and Naruto for sheer creativity.

He wondered what team she would have ended up on and how far in the shinobi rankings she would have made. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to reach Tokubetsu Jounin on her own; the potential was certainly there and her being an unofficial student of the Hokage still made it possible. But his cousin and brother had said that she would have a large handicap working against her since she probably wouldn’t do well working solo for long periods of time. Her ordered vacation was proof of that, but she  _ could _ survive. 

She made friends easily just as Naruto could except that her new friends were basically a major part of the criminal underworld, but she could probably find some way to use that. If so, she’d have a spy network that could rival Jiraiya’s and that was always useful to have.

Minami shifted in her sleep, startling him from her thoughts and his hands automatically went to her waist to hold her still. He could feel her smaller form trembling and her heart started to beat at an almost frantic pace.

_ A nightmare? _

“...won’t be...weird…” she mumbled before whimpering and trying to curl in on herself. “Promise...come back...be safe…”

“Minami-san?” He nudged her head with his chin. “You’re okay. It’s just a bad dream.”

“...’suke-kun?” Her tone was heavy with sleep, but her trembling had at least stopped.

“I’m here and you’re not alone. Go back to sleep,” he encouraged and rolled her under him. “Listen to my heartbeat; it'll help you sleep.”

“Mhm,” she hummed and her breathing evened out again.

_ This girl needs some serious therapy for her abandonment issues. How didn’t anyone see this before? _ He thought to himself before he stilled as another thought came to him.  _ The ordered vacation...Chichi-ue or Tsunade-sama could have ordered it long before she reached this point. She had multiple shinobi monitoring her at all times until they were ordered to the front lines. Was this a test? How far were they willing to push her until she broke under the strain? _

This wasn’t right. He had to tell his brother, Naruto, and maybe even his sensei who seemed to the renowned king for ‘looking underneath the underneath’. Someone was willing to let Minami work herself down to the bone and for the sake of what? An unknown and growing potential? His own words to her earlier in the day came back to him:

_ “They didn’t want your potential to stop growing just because you forgot how to take care of yourself.”  _

That still wasn’t a good enough reason to treat her like some kind of tool to be used--

_ They’re going to use her. Someone had plans for her to become a shinobi whether she wants to or not. _

And Konoha’s past history with prodigial type shinobi had a reoccuring cycle where most were cut down in their prime in some way or another. Either death or a dehabilitating illness where they would wither away over time as long as their skills were passed on. 

“This isn’t right,” he said and got up from his bed. 

He stared down at the sleeping civilian, picked up the blanket, wrapped her in it, and lifted her into his arms. Leaving his room, he headed for his brother’s room where he lightly knocked on the door.

“Aniki. We need to talk,” he spoke softly and was rewarded with the door being unlocked and slowly opened.

“Figured it out, otouto?” Itachi said and held the door open wider so Sasuke could walk inside. 

His younger brother nodded and went over to his older brother’s bed where he sat down with his back to the wall, Minami cradled in his arms.

“Someone is going to use her. It may not necessarily be Chichi-ue or the Hokage, but eventually she’s going to be used in a way that really will break her spirit.” 

“Yes. Shisui has had his suspicions for some time during the start of our surveillance mission. It was why he warned her to always have someone with her before we had all been ordered to the front lines. He wondered why she would be granted such leeway with staying under the Council’s radar for this long considering the progress she’s made while having limited instructors.” 

It had been on Itachi’s mind long before that dark alleyway where Minami tried to climb his body like a cat trying to reach more of him. His cousin was a bit of an idiot, but Itachi had learned to trust Shisui’s instincts when something felt wrong.

“...’suke-kun, m’cold,” Minami whispered, shivering despite having both the blanket and his warmth wrapped around her.

Sasuke sighed and nodded at his brother.

_ We’ll talk about this later. _

“We can’t have that, now can we? Maybe Aniki can help warm you up?”

“Itachi-kun?” 

“Hn.”

_ What a cruel otouto you are. _


End file.
